One in a Million
by AmaryllisGreen
Summary: My wildest dreams come true when I somehow miraculously end up in the Pokemon world! The only thing is... I turned into one of the most common, annoying creatures in the universe; a Zubat. It doesn't help when a certain Paul Shinji is hellbent on catching me either... "Out of all the things I could have been, why on Earth (or should I say Sinnoh) did I have to be a Zubat?"
1. Beginnings of a Zubat

It's not a nice feeling, one minute sleeping blissfully unaware and the next moment later, being wholesomely and vividly conscious. It's kinda like being slapped on the face with a bucket full of water after pulling an all-nighter on an assignment you left until the last minute. Which believe me, I know the feeling. (Stupid humanities task...) Only, _this_ was ten times worse.

On a normal day, I'd groan loudly into my pillow, trying to block the sounds of an angry mother. Once I spot the time on my phone with bleary eyes reading 8:59 AM or in other words _'you're gonna get into big trouble, young lady!'_, I would pounce out of bed screaming profanities about how I would get detention if I was late even by a single second. I come rushing down the wooden hallways with a toothbrush in my mouth whilst my hands fiddled with an ugly striped tie around my collar as my mother would do the whole 'I tried to wake you up sooner but you just wouldn't budge' talk. That was the everyday morning of Marella Steins.

And like every morning, I proceeded to execute the first action of my routine; groaning into my pillow.

_Urgh..._

For whatever reason though, no sound came out of my mouth. I tried again but that nothing, not even the feeling of my voice-box vibrating was present. My first instinct was to start screaming and flailing my arms around in a panic-both of which I could not achieve. At that moment though, I became mildly aware of the throbbing pain in my head.

Everywhere else ached just as much. I didn't have a clue why I was in such pain; it wasn't like I ran in a marathon the day (blah, I can barely survive three minutes jogging, how could I ever possibly run a race) before nor was I sick (I thank my mother for giving me her superb immune system) and it wasn't like I got into an accident or something.

...wait.

Oh no.

Oh god.

No way.

Did I...?

All sorts of thoughts ran around wild in my mind as I tried to recalled what happened before I had assumingly blacked out.

_...I was thirsty. I had gone out for a drink when… I can't remember. _

Damn. What type of crappy situation was this? As I began to gain awareness, I only just realised that I can't seem to open my eyes. Soon after, I figured that I'm unable to move any part of my body at all. It felt as if I was being wrapped tightly in a blanket, in a small warm burito of cosiness, curled up within the sheets of my small bunk bed every Monday morning when I just can't be bothered going to school.

My throat was absolutely parched-I could still feel that rough gravel-like irritation at the back of my mouth. It was like sandpaper and the uncomfortable feeling was just killing me!

_I was thirsty then... what else had happened on that day? Wait, I think it was night time! _

More memories begrudgingly start to awaken; I had hit my head on something really hard... and fell to the ground. It was at home, during the late in the night... after binge-watching some anime on my laptop. It was then when I felt thirsty… then I got out of bed for some water and…

Hm... I don't really know what happened after that. The rest is a hazy, blurred-out memory. I think I... I might have heard something. Curious, I looked back and—

Then the thought suddenly popped up: I… died, didn't I?

Oh. _Oh_. Wow, never thought I'd die at the age of… fourteen. It's quite depressing, now that I think about it. I never finished high school, never got a job and never had experienced romance like most teen girls got to. Really, I hadn't even started living yet.

How… sad. But for some reason, I don't feel much. Like all my senses are numbed like my mind has dulled my emotions to keep myself from feeling. That heavy drowsiness that sinks my consciousness deeper and deeper into an eternal slumber.

_Meh… _

_What can I do about it? I'm dead. _

_And I guess that this is the afterlife: a black void of nothingness. It feels calming… I just want to rest… sleep… yeah, that sounded pretty nice right now._

* * *

I breathed a deep gulp of air. I've been in this odd coma-like state for the past who knows how long. It felt like days but it could have been easily a couple of weeks. There was no means of telling the time in the space. Slowly, though, I was gaining sensation in my body.

"…Hello?" My voice resonated horribly. It's hoarse, dry and didn't even sound human. It was like nothing I've heard of before, coming out as a sort of sharp high pitched holler. Currently, though, I'm glad I can even open my mouth. Hesitantly, I tried moving another part of my body yet nothing would move.

Eventually, I opened my eyes… only to be surrounded by the familiar darkness. I could make up the rugged edge of what I thought was a concrete surface. Maybe a cave wall or something?

I'm cramped into a small crack of some sort in wherever I was. It was just spacious enough for me to move around slightly and wriggle my toes.

...toes. Hang on a second. I can't actually feel my toes. Frowning, I looked down at my self and—_**oh my god! **_

I don't have any clothes on!

_I. _

_Don't. _

_Have. _

_Any. _

_Freaking._

_Clothes._

What the heck? Embarrassment crept up my neck as I thrashed around. Then, I realised I had much more troubling issues to deal with then clothes.

It wasn't that I couldn't feel my toes, I just didn't have any. I was missing my toes. As well as my hands, fingers, arms and legs; I didn't have any proper limbs. My body was much, much smaller than it should be and I had thin hair all over my body AND it was a goddamn shade of _purple_. Purple! And there were these things on my back which I couldn't quite describe.

Geez! Too much information to process at a time. Deep breaths, deep breaths… who am I kidding? How could anyone stay calm in a situation like this? So, I died and got reborn into this… what am I even? I don't recall any animal on the entire planet earth without limbs and having hairy skin, alike to dogs, which was the same colour as a grape. (Unless you eat green grapes. Blah, that's nasty. Everyone knows that purple grapes are the best!)

"Ugh!" I screeched in pure annoyance as the disbelief settled in.

At that point, I was so confused and utterly lost that any teensy bit of useless information I could find, I'd gladly take; I just needed something—anything right now. If I could only see myself right now.. If there was a mirror, window or something that's could show my reflection nearby, perhaps I could see exactly what I had become

But unfortunately, things were never quite that easy. For one, I don't think I'm near human civilisation because, well, I'm in a cave or cliff side of some sorts, aren't I? Judging by how dark it was and the texture of my surroundings, it would have to be one or the other. Of course, I had no way of knowing that but I wasn't about to get my hopes up.

_Drip._

My ears began twitching feverishly, picking up a slight sound echoing throughout the barren place. I assumed my hearing was much more sensitive than it was when I _was_ human. It seemed like the noise came deeper into the crack inside the wall and since I had nothing better to do, I followed it.

_Drip_.

It was extremely awkward and painstakingly slow trying to make my way towards the source of the sound. Without limbs, I couldn't do much but wriggle uselessly for a moment and I ended up caterpillar-ing across the ground, using my head to pull my small frame across the rough earth terrain. Oddly enough, it wasn't as nasty as it sounded. Don't get me wrong, it _hurt _alright! But rather than getting painful scratches and bloody bruises, it felt more like a tender twinge in my new body.

Within a matter of gruelling moments that felt like hours, I had made my way through the tunnel and into another section of the cave where there was a decently sized pool of murky green water. Upon the sight of it, I rush towards the underground lake and dipped my head into the liquid. Ahh, H2O has never tasted so good!

Swallowing mouthfuls of more heavenly water, I caught sight of light hitting the pond and the blurred out reflection staring back at me. My eyes had quite some time to adjust to the dark and I could see the image quite clearly; the small pointy purple ears, the giant mouth and squinted eyes. Not to mention those large, blueish-violet bay-like wings that hanged uncomfortably on my back and two odd 'tails' that were actually attached to my body. This... being looked oddly familiar.

What... that was... Zubat? Like from the Pokemon game? Was I a Zubat?

Oh, flipping Arceus, I think I'm gonna faint…

_Pokemon_. Pokemon was my childhood. I played all the games, bought the cards and battled with my friends. They grew out of it but I never did, always looking forward to the latest game. I could name just about every Pokemon from the first couple of generations except for the latest games, including Sun and Moon. I never got to finish my Moon version on my 3DS because of school and work… also, well, I'm dead now.

The point was that I was a _Zubat_ of all things, one of the most common, bland Pokemon in the poke-universe. A Pokemon which was virtually found in every single region around the world and was hated for the tendency it showed up in games.

Why couldn't I be some other Pokemon like a… I dunno, Pikachu? Eevee would have been cool with all the evolution possibilities and I've always wondered what it would be like to be badass Pokemon like Lugia. Couldn't I become a Dragonite? Or a Roselia? Or Bulbasaur, or any of the starters? Or really, anything else?! Was I really that unlucky that I had become a _Zubat _of all things?

Gosh, that sucked. That really did. If bats could cry, there would be a puddle made up of my own tears beneath the ground I stood on.

Damn. Well, can't do much. At least I was put into a world I know and also relatively friendly. Imagine if I was in the world of Call of Duty or the Walking Dead or something as equally gore-y… yeah, I'd rather not. In that case, I was actually pretty lucky.

Another question popped in my head; which universe was I in? There were several universes of the Pokemon franchise like the Mystery Dungeons, the games, the anime and the manga. Each was pretty different but they all themed around Pokemon.

I would have to figure that later. Right now, my main problem would be surviving as a wild Pokemon. If I'm not mistaken, no matter which universe I'm in, it's a Pokemon-eat-Pokemon world and I would rather not be eaten. Hopefully, I could find an exit and find some berries outside. But first, I need a better way to move around—dragging my body like I did before across the bumpy ground was something I definitely don't plan on doing again.

Zubats' main movement was flying by using their wings and that meant I should be doing that too. But like almost all things in life, it was much easier said than done. I kept crashing into the walls and the ceiling every five seconds to the point where I thought I had broken something in my new, small body. To my dismay, I didn't exactly have another method to learn how to fly other than plain old repetition.

It had been what I thought several hours if not _days _of failed attempts to fly when I met my first human in this world. With that, I could cross out Mystery Dungeons from my mental checklist. He looked a bit like infamous Youngster Joey, with a blue cap and a yellow short sleeved t-shirt. The boy noticed me almost immediately.

"Oh my Mew, another one?! Rattata, let's go! I'm out of here!" Maybe it is Youngster Joey and his famous 'top percentage Rattata'. Either way, he turns right from the tunnel he came from. It was then when a random but genius (no, not really) idea had sprung in my mind. If I followed him or went the direction he had come from, I'd get somewhere right? My flying wasn't the best but it was decent for the amount of time I had practice.

I decided to chase after the boy with the best of my ability, bumping into large rocks here. By the end of it, my body was torn and bruised but it was worth the pain. At the end was a colony of my own kind—Zubats and the occasional Golbat, most of which were sleeping, hanging from the rooftops like how we're supposed to do. I was ready to faint from that exhausting journey and I quickly joined the party, hanging off a ledge nearby the pack using my two… tails? Or limbs, I supposed. Either way, my world turned completely black the moment I get myself in a good position.

* * *

"Hey, wake up!" Someone nudges me and from my surprise, I let go. And immediately find myself falling down at a rapid pace as the floor came dangerously closer into my vision with every passing millisecond.

_Oh god, oh god, oh god!_

I nearly hit the ground but managed to flap my wings fast enough to keep me hovering in the air just in time. A huge sigh of relief escaped my lips-I think I just lost ten years from that stunt!

"That was close," I muttered, on the verge of breaking into a pile sweat. It was then when I noticed a fellow Zubat in front of me.

"Sorry about that. I'm Gilbert!" The bat greeted me with a sheepish smile, "You must be new here since I don't remember seeing you,"

How could he recognise me when there are so many just like him and myself? I wonder…

"Y-yeah," I stuttered and couldn't help but curse in my head when doing so. Damn my introverted self.

"Anyway, it's night time already. You should join us for the flight!" He nudged his head toward the exit where several other bats were flocking together as they headed out.

"Flight?" I echoed.

"You don't know?" Gilbert asked. To that, I shook my head slowly. Before I can say anything I'm pushed towards the flock and in moments, I was outside for the first time in my life. In my new life. "I could explain but it would be easier to just show you. Come on!"

It was night time and beautiful it was with the crescent moon and scattered stars casting a luminescent but pale light onto my surroundings and for a moment, I almost thought that everything was glowing. The colony of bats moved in one huge group as they scaled the forests and picked fruits from the trees.

"They're gathering food for the hatchlings and the elderly," Gilbert explained, "Those apart of the group contribute by giving the berries they collect to the ones who need it,"

"Huh…" I said as I watched the bats do their work. The scene was utterly fascinating; I had never seen anything like it and the anime failed to explain what really happened in a wild Pokemon's life, "So, could I help? Could I join the group?"

"Yep! 'We welcome anyone of our kind with open wings!' That's our motto!" Maybe, this wouldn't be so bad—I could live as a Pokemon with others who were my kind. The chance of me returning to my normal, high school life was below zero. If had to adapt, might as well make it worthwhile.

But the memories of my time as a human were all that my mind thought of as Gilbert showed me the ropes.

* * *

Months with the flock past in a wing beat. I never went beyond the surrounding forest and spent my time talking with Gilbert, helping nurse the eggs or training. You heard me right, training.

Why would I need to train? To put it simply, there have been a few attempts on me and some other bats with some of the younger trainers trying to catch us. Mimi, a female Golbat who was like the mother of the group was caught a little while ago by some trainer. It made me realize that I could one day be captured and the thought of being someone's battle weapon didn't seem fun despite the fact that I was a human before.

Sometimes, I would spar with the more older and experienced Pokemon for training, 'grinding' in gaming terms without actually making anyone faint. It was unnecessary but I still did it anyway.

I had a full move set as well which contained Wing Attack, Bite, Confuse Ray and Poison Fang—the normal moves of a Zubat. Turned out that the attacks were only guidelines to battling and it really depended on the Pokemon to choose a fighting style. It made sense, considering that this was no longer a game. It was reality, for me, and for all the Pokemon that lived in this world.

"Wing Attack," I mumbled to myself and imagined my wings glowing, before rushing up to the large stone and hitting with all my might. There was a whoosh of wind a small tornado appeared and vanished into thin air as quickly as it came into existence. Even now, seeing it happen in real life made my heart pound in satisfaction. Granted, it only added another mark to the ever-growing pile of scratches I had given to the rock training dummy but it was decent damage for a creature my size.

"Training again?" It was Gilbert, who had recently turned into a Golbat. He looked bigger, stronger; it made me want to evolve someday, "You know that there is no point doing so, right?"

"I know," But it had become a habit. There wasn't much to do anyway and I found training a great pass time. A purpose in my new-found life. Apparently, as a female bat, I was expected to babysit the pups at home whereas the males gathered food and spent their time battling. No matter how fun and cute the baby Pokemon were, as a former-human brought from a world of equality, it felt wrong.

_"Sweetie, that's just how life is. You'll grow up a wonderful mother and learn that it's all just how it is," Mimi had said just hours before she had been caught. There was a bitter taste on my tongue as I put on a smile and told her I understood. I didn't really._

No one in that damn cave though would understand though. They were nice, wonderful creatures and Gilbert. He was a brilliant, nice and loving bat that had been patient with me all the way up until now. But he, _they_ didn't see the world as I saw it; they weren't human. And that difference was all it took for me to see the line drawn between me and the rest of the Zubats. I was unorthodox; irregular in all the wrong ways.

Gilbert awkwardly remained silent, the sound of our wings beating silently through the night, "I wish you would take care of yourself better. I know you're independent but it's okay to rely on others more. Rely on me more,"

"...uh huh. I'll try," I practised Wing Attack once again, drawing my attention back to the dummy.

I knew he was interested in me as any other guy in a rom-com t.v. series would be with their love interest. It was the first time anyone had a crush on me and I was even happy for a moment. However, I saw him as a friend. I didn't want to be a breeding partner, attached to someone I didn't really like for life. There was that little part of me which just couldn't accept that.

Worse, I understood that it wasn't romantic attraction. It was just animal instinct.

"You should head back soon; the night is ending and you know what happens when the sun is out," Bats were not nocturnal for no reason. The mammal's pupils were sensitive to light as they stayed in dark places like caves. Overexposure from the sun led to permanent blindness but most Zubats didn't mind as the dominant method of finding their way around was via echolocation. I was a special case as my eyes got used to light ever since I was 'born'.

"Yes, yes. I'll head back soon," That was complete and utter bull. Or should I say Tauros? But anyway, I always lost track of time when training and ended up going into the cave sometime during the morning which was really bad for my health. I was darker in skin shade than the usual Zubat and even suffered bad sunburns during summer days due to my bad habits.

Today, the feeling of wanting to beat someone up was ten times more intense than usual and taking all my pent-up emotions on an unfeeling target made life just that much easier to get on by.

"…Okay," He left without making much of a fuss, which was a little unusual because Gilbert was normally all motherly when it came to me but I didn't ponder much over it. My mind was focused back on the intense imaginary game of battling another Pokemon.

There was only one instance where I've come face to face with other Pokemon on my own and it was not a pretty battle. I was still fairly new at the whole being a Zubat thing and during one of my late training sessions that had reached the break of dawn, I had run into Ursaring territory. Angry mother bears are absolutely terrifying and if I learnt anything from that experience, it would be to FLY AWAY AS FAST AS YOUR WINGS CAN FREAKING CARRY YOU and STAY AWAY. I got a nasty scar from the battle as well, running across my left wing and back.

Gilbert and the others thought that would mentally traumatise me for life but it only drove me further in my quest of becoming stronger. I wanted to be able to defend myself and others, even if it meant breaking the rules of the colony.

I continued my usual exercise regime, honing my skills via repetition, flying (which, by the way, I've become an expert now and I teach the little ones back at home how to fly. It's amazing when you compare to when I was first trying to flap my wings), my stamina and dodging. How do I practice dodging? Well, instead of being an idiot and agitating some wild Pokemon (it's not like I've never done that before though. hahaha...), I fly through the trees at a really fast pace and try to dodge all incoming branches. Either way is stupid but honestly, it's become a little fun activity as I try to keep up the same speed for as long as I could manage. My personal best is around three minutes.

When doing this, my echo-location skilled become trained as well as in split seconds, I have to send out and receive a message from my brain which tells me just what and how far something is in front of me than actually dodge it. It sounds really tedious but its actually faster than the amount of time my eyes process anything which is pretty amazing.

I was testing my flying abilities when something unnaturally purple came into my view. Like I normally would with any obstacle, I flew around it… only to crash face-first into the trunk of a tree.

"Freaking hell!" I screamed as pain spread throughout my entire body, shaking my head, "That hurts!"

Unfortunately, I was not alone at the current time, "What the…?!"

I spun around instantly and staring at me with a shock expression, I saw a boy with long, pale purple hair and dark pupils. He wore a violet jacket half zipped up and shaggy army trousers. The scowl on his face was unmistakable. My eyes widen–not that it was noticeable, considering my eyes are pretty narrow in the first place. Was that… Paul?

As in the Diamond and Pearl series, Paul? The douche bag who basically abused his Pokemon and only cared about being the strongest? The dude who abandoned poor Chimchar which ended up kicking his ass in the league after Ash took him in? Speaking of Chimchar… a young monkey-like Pokemon was next to the boy had a meek expression, frozen to the ground in shock.

.

.

.

Yeah… **nope**! Not dealing with this! At the speed of sound, mind racing and heart pounding, I flew in the other direction in an attempt to escape.

But fate seemed to have other plans for me, "Chimchar, ember!"

There was a sizeable stream of fire which came from behind but I dodged it easily enough. Only, I forget that we were in a forest and within seconds, the dry branch had burst into flames. I felt my mouth go dry.

Shit! The forest—if I left there, the forest would burn and that would mean a food crisis to the whole Zubat population as well as all the native Pokemon that live here. I wasn't the one careless enough to use a Fire-type Pokemon in this natural environment but I had played a part in this accident and that meant I had to fix it.

How the heck was I gonna do that though? Being a flying and poison type, I don't have any water-based moves and I doubt that Paul would do anything for the environment either. Plus, he can't even understand anything that comes out of my mouth because I'm a Pokemon!

Damn it. Paul Shinji, why must you pop out of nowhere and ruin my life?

The flames were growing bigger every passing moment. I did what first came to mind, biting a section of the branch and it broke off from the tree, falling onto the floor. Because it's Spring season, the grass is all fresh and alive and thus wouldn't burn up in flames as a dry branch would. It worked for the most part but since there were still a couple of burning embers and I couldn't just stomp on them just like how I would put out a campfire when I was human, I did the next best thing; I tucked my wings and rolled on them using my whole body like a burrito.

When I was satisfied, I swiped my sweat with my wings in relief. Glad that's done over with! Though, I had completely forgotten about, "Whoa!"—that came from Chimchar (I really wonder though, would Paul really say something like that?).

_Oh, crap._ I thought as I stared at the shocked faces of Paul and the baby fire Pokemon beside him through the former's was more of a slightly taken back look. What do you in a situation like this? The answer's simple: you run.

So run I did but I don't have legs, god damn it. Once again I flew away from this mess of… I don't even know! All I could do was hope that he would forget this event actually happened and the fact that I even existed. That wasn't too much to ask for, right?

* * *

"Tch. It got away," Paul growled frustratedly, clicking his tongue in displeasure, "I wanted to catch it too,"

Feeling his trainer's deathly stare upon him, Chimchar flinched. The purple-haired trainer sighed, "Let's go; we've wasted enough time as is,"

As he headed towards his campsite for that night, a thought floated in his mind; that Zubat had a distinctive scar of its back; there was faded skin shaped like claws marks. If he would ever come across that Pokemon again, he would know.

.

.

.

**A/N: Hey, it's AmaryllisGreen here! I've decided to publish "One in a Million" on this website, a fanfiction I had previously kept on Quotev for some time now. There are only a couple chapters so far (and I mean like five) but I'll eventually publish and continuously update on them both here and Quotev. **

**For those wondering when I'll update any of my other fanfictions, I'm working on them! Slowly. And surely. Honestly, I don't have much motivation for those works as I do this one. It's much easier to write when you've known the characters from childhood. And it's literal crack. Almost. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy!**


	2. Brand New Day

Zooming through the trees and between bush branches, I spared a glance behind me just to make sure I wasn't being followed. Other than a couple of young Starly and their mother who were going about their day, there was no one there. Certainly no flaming monkey or grouchy purple-haired trainers either. Only when I had confirmed that I was in fact safe, I allowed my flight to slow down.

"Wow. That was a close one!"

Paul nearly gave a heart attack (if Pokemon could even have such human health conditions), appearing out of nowhere back then. There was one single benefit that came out of that sudden encounter though. I could finally confirm that I was in the anime world. Whether that was a good thing or bad, I had no idea though.

It wasn't like I was a big fan of the cartoon. While I had watched a couple of episodes on T.V. and online, I preferred the games much more. The anime had become quite a predictable pattern with Ash and his constant banters with Team Rocket, collecting the badges from the different Gym Leaders and challenging the league; only to lose, then move on to a new region. I knew the main characters including most of the protagonist's famous travelling partners like Brock and Misty as well as some of his rivals but that was about it.

That included Paul. The only thing I really knew about him was, like all other rivals, he was a complete jerk to everyone including his Pokemon and the fact he only cared about winning the Sinnoh League.

Who cares though? There was a skinny chance that I would encounter the violent violet idiot (man, that nickname is so smart) ever again in my life as an everyday Zubat. I'd like to meet Ash sometime though; as the main character, he always seems to be coming across legendaries. It would absolutely astounding if I could ever meet Dialga or Palkia. Again, the chances of that ever happening were equally as thin.

The slight irritation on my wings pulled me out of my contemplation; ah, crap! That's never a good sign. I must have stayed out in the sun for too long. Most Zubats got severe cases of sunburn if they were vulnerable to the sun for as long as I have, however, I've always been a special case. I had gradual exposure ever since I was a pup but I still could get rashes and that was just as horrible in its own way.

After a few minutes, I found the entrance to Mt Coronet and glided through, turning several tunnels before reaching my destination; this section of the cave was filled with nothing but Zubats and Golbats. It served as a 'base of operations' type of place and was mostly avoided by trainers due to, well, the sheer number of bat Pokemon. Apparently, it was universally agreed that my species were just a pain in the butt.

I went up to my usual spot and found a place to settle by a nice crevasse in the cave ceiling. Gilbert was there as per usual, already deep asleep and I tried to stay silent as I got myself comfortable. Soon, I delved steadily into heavy thoughts.

* * *

_"__Marella__," My mother called from the master bedroom, "Goodnight!"_

_"I will!" I shouted and waited until all was silent before grabbing out my phone from under my pillow. I plugged in my pink earphones and opened the YouTube app, watching the latest videos from the different people I subscribed to. When I heard the quiet tapping of footsteps, I immediately closed my screen and pretended to sleep._

_The door opened, "Hey. I know you're awake."_

_"...How come you always find me out?" I sighed, "I can't keep anything from you, sis."_

_"That's because you make it too obvious," My sister bluntly stated._

_"Whatever," I rolled my eyes despite knowing she wouldn't be able to see it, "Anyway, did you need something?"_

_Hana paused for a moment before saying, "Give me your phone,"_

_"Eh?! Noooooo~" I whined, "How'd you know?"_

_"Sister's intuition. Now give it to me," I reluctantly gave her my phone, all while jokingly muttering 'I hate you'. _

_"Love you too!" She sang before shutting the door and I could only curse in my head. _

* * *

My eyes flew open, blinking lazily as I let out a tired yawn. That had been my last conversation with my sister and mother before the incident happened. I was still quite hazy on most of the events that happened afterwards and never fully recovered the memories that night.

Sleep came hard to me ever since I had become a Zubat; there was just no getting over the fact that I had turned into this fictional creature of a bat with large blue wings and large, pointy ears. At this point, even I knew that I was still in denial about the whole situation because despite being a Pokemon, I still had the conscious of a human. I was a person inside, not an animal.

I don't think I can keep this up. Repeating the days over and over again, I can't live the life of a wild Pokemon knowing that I would be expected to reproduce more of my kind and waste my life doing nothing. It was just... _inhumane. _

But, there was nothing I could do about it. No matter what I did, I wouldn't turn back into a human. I wouldn't be able to go back to my own world. I was stuck here, living the rest of my days as a Zubat in Mt Coronet, raising my own little children in this cave and become old, until I had an untimely death.

There was another option though.

Go on my own adventure. Beyond the forest, there was an entire world waiting for me. As a Zubat, the option of flying myself to wherever I wanted to be. Perhaps I'd be able to go to Snowpoint City; I've always wanted to see that view off the cliffs myself. I'd meet new friends along the way and new foes as well. I could even just let myself get captured. I wouldn't mind if it was Ash or an unnamed trainer; either way, it would be better than remaining here. There were just so many possibilities outside this little bubble of a prison and I wanted to go _outside. _

The problem would be leaving everybody I've met here-I'm pretty sure I won't be allowed back in once I leave. Also, the chance of me _dying_ was something I had to think about. What happened if I died? There would be no funeral, no news report and no loved ones crying. I'd die alone, in isolation.

I'd die a death all the same if I stayed as well.

What's more important; living a long life unhappy or die a short life knowing that you at least tried to find happiness? Might even find joy, friendship, love along the way of the quest. Looking at it like that, the choice wasn't that hard to make.

It was set: I would leave tomorrow at dusk, quietly without a single word. No one would notice as Pokemon in these caves get caught on a daily basis. I didn't have anything to pack save for a couple of barries.

Out on the field, I could only rely on myself.

For food. Every Zubat also knew each type of berry and which were most useful so I had a means of healing myself out there. I also remembered that there were Pokemon Centres and if I was lucky enough, I would be on my merry way after they healed me.

For shelter. I could sleep on trees during the day and enter stray caves if the weather turned bad. I'm sure no one likes Zubats with how common they are but even then, there was nothing wrong with being caught by a human either. Of course, I wouldn't purposely let myself get caught but if my new trainer was a friendly person who took good care of their Pokemon, there was no harm in that either.

For protection. I'm actually quite confident about my battling skills. They relied mostly on speed and dodging, wearing out the opponent using Poison Fang and confuse ray to whittle down their health. Being a human also helped out; I could make battle strategies and tools that would give me the upper hand in a battle. Even then, I could use my wings and fly away when things turned sour.

Not a full-proof plan but it was something and it definitely better than nothing.

* * *

I remember there was a function in the games where you give Pokemon items and they carry it with them. Now, I wonder just how do they 'wear' it? Because I don't know how to carry anything but either storing them in my mouth as I'd rather not keep berries there for the entire trip or using my two... tails or legs, hind limbs, or whatever they are.

It was never mentioned if it had a proper purpose but I find I can grab onto things with them, a bit like claws. I wrap my tails around a Sitrus and Lum berry from the storage area before leaving the cave with the rest of the Pokemon, blending in.

Then I'm left all alone in the sky as the bats go down to collect berries. Staring at the scene which I've looked at for the past seven months, I think I might miss Mt Coronet. I won't regret leaving though. It was time to go now-

"_Ella_, where do you think you are going?"

I don't need to turn around to figure out who it is but I did anyway, staring at the face of my closest friend I've made here. It's Gilbert.

"Out," I said simply.

The Golbat immediately caught on, frowning as he hovered closer towards me, "...Will you come back?"

"Maybe,"

"I see..." Gilbert whispered.

There was a pang of sudden guilt in my stomach made me feel sick inside. We had become close during my time here yet I was ready to leave without even saying farewell. Just how utterly selfish was I? But I had made up my mind and I wasn't going to back out here, "You can't stop me,"

"I know. I wasn't planning to anyway," He said, tone playful as ever and I stared at him curiously. _What?_ "I picked this up from a trainer a little while back: it's a cleanse tag and its suppose to lessen the amount of wild Pokemon you encounter,"

"Thanks, but my wings are kinda full..." I smiled sheepishly, waving the berries at him.

"Come here," He said before fiddling the item and somehow attaching the rolled up piece of paper to my right-wing with a bit of braided grass. It was comfortable and I didn't feel a thing, "Well then, you better be off,"

"...Yeah," I agreed awkwardly, "I guess... see you around. Yeah, see you later, Gilbert."

Before things started getting emotional, I flew away. Was this a bad choice? I knew it was too late for regrets but... I couldn't help but feel like I was leaving too quickly. I tried leaving without anyone noticing (and that failed) even though I knew some Pokemon would miss me and...

(It was a mere whisper but I heard the water eyes which threatened to spill as Gilbert hastily tried to dry them, "Goodbye,")

...Too late for regrets now. I made this decision and I was going to stick to it. I flew off into the night as drops of water fell from the sky.

* * *

Flying for hours at a time, uncaring about where I was going or what time I had to be back at the cave was pretty relaxing. I was going to be doing this more often, that was for sure. A night sky like this one was too beautiful to think about anything.

I made another quadruple loop in the air, gliding gracefully with the wind. It made me think if I really wanted to be captured in some round ball and tied down to a single person for life.

Just before the sun was about to rise, I saw buildings in the distance. I had bypassed another one just a couple of hours ago since I didn't feel all that tired but at that moment, it was time for a break. There were people starting to bustle about and it would be safer to stay low as well. I'm sure it would look pretty suspicious if a wild, nocturnal Pokemon was flying around in the sunlight.

As I started descending, I passed a large sign on the road which pointed in the direction I was going: Eterna City, huh? If I'm not mistaken, that's the location of the second gym which is grass-based. It's been a while since I played the Diamond and Pearl series, so I don't remember who was the gym leader.

I landed on the outskirts of town, on a nice sturdy looking tree. On a branch, I go into my standard sleep-position, hanging upside down with my wings tucked in. I had eaten those two berries I took with me on my travel and the cleanse tag Gilbert gave me was firmly in place. It was probably the reason why I had so little encounters with wild Pokemon.

I wondered what my next day would bring—if I would finally find something to brighten up my world just that little bit. Maybe make a new friend or stumble across a dangerous Pokemon.

Slowly, my senses began to fade then, I fell asleep.

* * *

_"Hey,"_

Go away...

_"Heeeey~"_

So annoying...

_"Hello? Anyone in there?"_

Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?!

_"Come on, wake up!"_

Don't wanna...

_"Oh well..."_

Finally! You're giving up! Now I can get some decent sleep, geez.

_"...WAKE UP!"_

Pain erupted from everywhere—it hurt so bad, I thought I was being fried in boiling oil _alive_—and I screech in shock, "Gahhhh!" I was wide awake by now, attempting to process the literal shock I had just gone through. The hairs on my body stood upright on my body and there was a faint scent of burning on my fur.

I stared at the Pokemon front of me which I presumed was the cause of my suffering. It's a Pikachu, with fuzzy yellow fur, zigzag tail and their signature red circle cheeks. I would have coo at the adorable sight if I hadn't just been electrified only seconds before.

"Heh... sorry, about that!" The Pokemon apologised mareepishly, "Just that my friend wanted to meet you and you wouldn't wake up, so..."

To his credit, he did look genuinely apologetic but I was way too sleep-deprived to care, "What,"

Seriously, why. Couldn't this be saved for later? There was no need to _shock _me awake either as, for one, they hurt like hell and you could have just shaken the branch or something. And also, I was tired. Really tired. Was it that hard for a poor lil' Zubat to get some decent sleep around here? Apparently, yes, it was.

Pikachu pointed downwards to a field of grass where I spotted a Piplup with a Buneary, staring at me with an equally embarrassing look. The view kick-started my brain; out of the three Pokemon, there were two starters and the other one was fairly uncommon as well. Were Pikachu even native to Sinnoh? I didn't think so and either way, they were quite rare in the wild, to say the least. The fact that all three of these Pokemon were gathered together had alarm bells ringing in my head.

Before I could continue that line of thought, there was a—

**SNAP.**

_Not good. Not good at all. _

"AHHH!" All of a sudden, I was falling straight down in the ground and in my shock, froze in place. It was like day one as a Zubat all over again before I realised that I had a pair of freaking _wings_ and why was I so stupid? I keep myself in the air and avoid crashing into the ground but Pikachu, unfortunately, doesn't have wings. With my instincts kicking in, I flew down as fast as possible and caught the Pokemon by the tail.

"Haha, that was a close one! You saved me! Thanks," I paid no attention to his words as I swooped up in my flight, making a u-turn around the trees. How the hell did he even get up in the first place? Last time I checked, rodents were not able to climb trees. And for mew's sake, this Pikachu was heavy!

"What happened?!" Asked a familiar, deep but alarmed human voice. Fudge, there were humans! I didn't expect to encounter them so soon in my journey.

"Ash, is everything alright?!" Ash?

"We heard Pikachu shouting so we rushed here as soon as possible..." Hold on a moment.

I quickly glanced at the incoming humans and had the urge to scream right there on the spot. No one could fault me though because in front of me, the Sinnoh trio featuring Ash, Brock, and Dawn stood, looking exactly how I remembered them to be. Ash had on his symbolic cap with bits of hair sticking out underneath, dressed in his usual uniform with light blue jeans, plain white shirt and a black vest. He was hugging Pikachu, making sure that the Pokemon wasn't injured from the sudden fall. The other two, who were wearing a short dress and dull green shirt respectfully, were quick to run up to Ash and show their concern.

Meanwhile, I just stared. There weren't any words to express my utter disbelief. I swear some legendary Pokemon is pulling strings up there, how on earth did I manage to bump into them within a single freaking day?

"Did you make a new friend?" Ash said once noticing me.

"I wouldn't say that but she did save me," Pikachu informed, "She's really cool!"

Cool, huh? It was just a natural thing to do, nothing I would consider 'cool'. I did try to help a Pokemon in need of assistance whenever I could though. It ranged from a bunch little things like sparing leftover berries, fending off feral Pokemon or even serving as a mode of transport.

"Does it belong to someone? I can't see anyone here," Dawn had asked. _It. _

_It _was an innocent term, I knew she didn't mean anything about it. What else was the blue-haired girl supposed to say? She probably had no idea what gender I was even. But being called _it _evoked this type of irritation in me. It wasn't the first time I had been called _it_ but every time, I couldn't help but flinch.

Before I was a human, I was a _she._ But now, I'm just _it._

God damn it. Sighing, I shook my head and tried to not think about it. Brock must have mistaken my shaking as an answer as he said, "I think it's trying to say no,"

"Well then, if it's wild, why don't I catch it? What do you say about that, Zubat?" Ash queried rhetorically, smirking and all. The young teenager was already grabbing a spare Pokeball from his belt. Honestly, I didn't really want to be captured by Ash. I knew he wouldn't mistreat me but I'd probably be sent the lab being a common Zubat and would have to spend the rest of my days there. I didn't run away from Mt Coronet just to be sent to another 'prison' permanently.

As amazing as it was seeing a cartoon hero in real life, I couldn't let myself be caught by him. The metal sphere was thrown in the air in my direction but before it could zap me with that red beam, I turned a three-sixty, knocking it away with my large wings like a baseball.

_My sports teacher would have been so proud of me. _

"What the?!" Ash yelped as the ball hit flat on his face then bounced off and hit Pikachu. There was a red circle on the centre of his forehead as both boy and partner winced in pain. I cheered in delight and did a little victory dance, waving my wings oddly.

_Score:_  
_Marella - 1  
Ash and Pikachu - 0_

"Why you..." He squawked indigently, Pikachu just as displeased. The two of them were in amazing sync as they got up at the same time and began getting ready for a battle, "Use thunderbolt!"

Pikachu charged up and stray electric sparks hit the grass as he moved in a rapid zig-zag pattern before releasing the stored up energy. Before it could hit me, I ducked downwards and tilted my wings so the attack would just miss the target. I wasn't going to get hit by those again. Being a flying Pokemon meant having a huge handicap against lighting moves and if I wasn't careful, it would be a one-hit knock out for me.

The best way to deal with a quick Pokemon like Pikachu was to weaken them with stat-altering moves then knock them out once their defence is lower enough. In this case, Confuse Ray was the only move I could pull off.

Dodging numerous attempts (I even got shocked once and sheesh, it hurt) and two flashes of light later, the mouse Pokemon quickly became disorientated and even electrocuted himself before getting called back. I have to admit, I was pretty proud of myself for hold my own against a Pokemon that's super effective against me.

Battling was pretty thrilling as well. It was... fun, in an odd way. To fight other creatures, not for survival but for entertainment. Perhaps it was because I'm a human through mind and Pokemon through body.

"Having trouble defeating a Zubat? Pathetic," There was no mistaking that voice anywhere. It was full of arrogance and had that 'I'm so better than you' tone to it.

Paul Shinji. What earth was he doing _here? _

"If it isn't Paul," Dawn groaned, obviously not pleased to have encountered the other person. Her Piplup mimicked her actions, giving the trainer a dirty look.

"Hmph," He didn't even glance at the young female coordinator but instead, looked in my direction before pulling out... a Pokeball, "Chimchar. Stand by for battle,"

_Oh no. Seriously? Come on! Why me?! Or rather, what the hell is he thinking, challenging a Zubat to a battle?!_

"Hey! I was still in the middle of battling that Zubat!" Ash rebutted loudly. He was just as stubborn as he had been in the anime. It was Brock who stopped him, placing a hand on the youngest's shoulder.

"No offence, Ash, but that Zubat would have bet Pikachu had the fight continued. Just let Paul have his turn,"

With a begrudging, "Fine," from the raven-haired boy, the Sinnoh trio move out of the way as they step into the imaginary sidelines of the field, leaving me alone face to face with the spiteful trainer whose intentions were completely unclear.

I had two options; fly away and never look back or stay here and be beaten by Paul.

There was a part of me that wanted to stay and teach a lesson to this cold-hearted, ruthless power monger however I'd rather save my future self all the trouble. Something told me I would regret if I didn't bolt as soon as I could.

Just as I was about to flee, a burst of fire came straight at my face. That was way too close for my tastes; had been a second late in moving, I would be an over-cooked, crisp bat by now. Arceus, was he trying to kill me?!

"Get closer than use Ember again!" Paul ordered.

Damn. Doesn't look like he's gonna go easy on me. Then again, he never goes easy on anyone. The thing about trainers was they called out their orders; of course, they had no other way to communicate with their Pokemon but as a human myself, that meant I could use that fact to my advantage.

Before Chimchar could open its mouth, I charge right at it with full speed; this was a good intimidation technique to the more smaller, younger Pokemon unless they had a special ability like my Inner Focus that prevented flinching. But it worked on the fire monkey and he hesitated for a second which was enough for me to get a good Confuse Ray in.

"Scratch!"

"Here I go!" Chimchar shouted, putting all his effort into the one swipe. He managed a good hit as I could go out of the way in time but I managed to put more distance between us with a few huge flaps of my wings.

I winced at the marks in my skin. Getting injured in this world was a whole lot different compared to the games and anime; no HP bars but I definitely could bruise, bleed, break my bones, get actual Pokemon diseases and I could die. It was surprisingly harsh for a world made to be played by children though fitting all at the same time; people and animals died all the time back at home, it was only natural in this world too.

The purple-haired trainer saw his chance, "Chimchar, finish it off with an Ember!"

Before I could even register the words, I'm suddenly being_ roasted alive. _That felt as horrible as it sounded but ten-a thousand times worst. I knew that the worst I could get from that attack was a bad burn but damn did that hurt. The last thing I see is Pokeball hurling straight at my face.

My world went black.

Quite literally, in fact, as what I presumed was the red beam enveloped me and pulled my body into the darkness. Did I get caught? Damn it, I don't want to be _Paul's_ Pokemon out of all people. I would happily accept a peace life being caught by Ash in Professor Oak's lab or anyone else, really. Anyone would have been better than_ him_ who only cared about winning and being stronger.

I refuse. I _refuse_ to be his Pokemon!

Break free.

_Break free._

Break free!

**Come on, BREAK FREE!**

"The Pokemon got out of it's Pokeball!" Rushing away, I dashed out of the field with battered wings. I stumbled a lot and got caught into stray branches, too light-headed to even pay attention in my attempt of fleeing. I didn't get very far considering my injuries and I crashed into a bush when I couldn't find it within myself to fly.

Ouch. Everything from my wings to my ears to my eyes painfully ached. I can feel the sting on my tender wings which were caused by a direct hit of Ember. I also gained the status condition Burn which I could tell was slowly draining my energy away. Looks like I had taken more damage from that battle than I thought. At this rate, I would faint or even... if I didn't get help soon...

I sighed before quickly finding a bush to settle on for the time being. From the colour of the leaves and the little berries growing, I can tell that this was an Oran berry tree but most of the fruits were still unripe. Looking around, it doesn't look like there are any potential threats so I take the chance to recover my health.

_Why? _Is the first question that pops up. Could Paul tell I was the same Zubat since I last saw him? The only unique feature about me physically was the scar on my back. Even then, why would be the boy be interesting in battling me?

"Ugh..." My mind was getting hazier by the second. I needed to find a Rawst berry or something, otherwise, I'd be in big trouble.

The rustling of bushes could be heard nearby. At this point, I closed my eyes. Was this gonna be it? There was no way I could defend myself in this state. I still had to try though; using my echolocation, I could tell that it was getting closer, whatever it was. Then footsteps came to a sudden halt.

I assumed they've seen me as, after a momentary pause, the noises returned, much quicker and louder than previously until I had been grabbed in someone arms. It was an automatic reaction to bite down on touch and thrash around with whatever energy I had remaining—

_"For Mew's sake, stay still. I'm trying to help," _

_Huh...? Was that... Paul? _

I stopped, half out of fatigue and half out of curiosity. There was a light cold misty spray—must've been a burn heal, no doubt—and I could immediately feel the difference. The pain subdued to a much more bearable tingling sensation and I could only sigh in relief.

_He's... actually trying to help me._

Just before I lose consciousness, I tried to open my eyes. All I saw was purple before it all faded into black.

.

.

.

* * *

**A/N: Yahoo, next update! Honestly took longer than expected because I'm just copying and pasting but the formatting is a pain and I've also gone over it and edited it. If you do notice any mistakes though, please tell me! I often miss those tiny typos.**

**Anyway, what do you guys think about the latest update? If you have any ideas or suggestions, do leave a review. I really appreciate the support. Now, I'll continue on to the important stuff. **

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**(Pun intended, lol)**


	3. Utterly Boring Times

Paul, if not a jerk, was the most boring person I've ever met in my entire life. The only things he did during the past few days was walk, train, eat and insult others then repeat (though not necessarily in the same order, that would be more train, walk, scowl, insult, scowl, walk, scowl, train, train again insult, eat, insult, walk, scowl, scowl again, walk, insult, train and then sleep _whilst_ scowling)—like seriously, just what type of life was that?! He might have healed me back then from my burns but then again, he was also the one that caused them in the first place!

"Zubat, wing attack," I flapped my wings half-heartedly and made sure to aim slightly off course, messing up his lilac hair as well as planting a couple of leaves and small twigs in the birds nest. Add a scowl and... there you go, perfect.

The Pokemon trainer was quickly losing his patience and looked as if he were about to explode any second. Meanwhile, I was just having too much fun messing with his head.

"Weavile, stand by for battle," He said whilst pulling out another Pokeball, "Ice Shard!"

Seriously? Ugh, does he actually want to hurt me for the sake of it? I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case... The task itself though was a piece of cake when I had been playing games that involved running through trees at top speed all my life, manoeuvring through the rain of frozen water effortlessly.

When I had enough, I headed towards Weavile and grabbed her by the arms then proceeded to carry her as I did a couple of aerial stunts. She was pretty agitated though when I let her down though, snarling, "Are you insane?"

"Sorry," The other Pokemon completely ignored me and gave the cold shoulder. I could even feel it as she returned to her red and white capsule. Geez, all of these Pokemon were so uptight and hostile towards one another. I guess that's what happens when Paul was your trainer.

I silently complained in my head as I had to dodge another red beam of light that came from my Pokeball. I refused to go into that... thing. When I had woken up with a massive headache, imagine my surprise when I found myself in this artificial world. It was the size of a small, circular room with invisible walls and fake plants to make it feel more natural. I thought that the oddly coloured trees and textured grass made the interior the complete opposite from natural. It was nothing compared to the real thing. Long story short, I never want to go inside there ever again.

Meanwhile, the purple haired teen was grumbling. Why didn't the damn Zubat get in it's Pokeball? The hate was very much mutual.

I sighed as awkward silence took place, making loops and spins in the air to cure my boredom. Paul had given up on retrieving me and just let me fly around him like the day before, walking silently with this blank face. I had a feeling that this would be normal as the boy didn't seem like the one to talk to his Pokemon. Even then, anything he said was plain insults.

The only good thing that came out of this was Chimchar, who I liked to call Charry. He was a sweet although a bit naive Pokemon. Charry was barely a few weeks old when he was attacked by a couple of Zangoose and then captured by Paul; in short, he was just a baby and yet his trainer continuously overworked the poor fire monkey.

I'll stick around and put up with Paul's temper until Chimchar was given to Ash, if he doesn't release me before that. Honestly, I seriously doubt it though. I was such a high-maintenance Pokemon (only for the sake of annoying him though, I could be nice when I wanted to) that he wouldn't even bother.

It also brought back the question of why he wanted to capture me in the first place. Zubats were probably the most common Pokemon in the world not to mention, pretty weak and annoying. I still remember having to battle through what seemed like billions of them when I played games. The only advantage I had was my human brain and mentality. I couldn't possibly understand for what reason he had for capturing lil' old me.

_Sigh..._

Having enough of the silence, I flapped my wings harder and sored through the sky, swooping down and performed aerobic loops yet never leaving a certain radius of a tiny, unchanging purple blob.

We were on our way to, I assumed, Veilstone City for Paul's third badge.

* * *

"Chimchar! Flamethrower!" Paul ordered. The fire-monkey opened his mouth with a loud cry but a weak smoky flame was the only thing that came out. I watched from the sidelines, hanging upside down a branch on one of the oak trees. "Again!"

I let out a frustrated sigh. Watching the 'training session' was vexing to no ends. That boy never learned from his mistakes, ever. Charry wasn't going to make sudden improvements in his abilities by getting continuously tortured—you needed to be patient, loving and provide proper care for baby animals. This was just going nowhere yet that stupid, annoying, stubborn, little prick didn't seem to believe that.

When I looked back to the grassy field, Chimchar had lost his balance and was wobbling, completely worn out before just falling over in a heap. The poor Pokemon was covered in scratches and bruises all over, it hurt to even look at them. This was full-on physical abuse. Yet, I couldn't say anything because I'm... I don't know, a _Pokemon._

"Get up!" The purple haired boy commanded, "I told you to get up!"

Everyone had their limits; Chimchar couldn't take much more of this and I had just reached mine. I swooped down to Paul's annoying as fudge face and bit down on as much of his hair as possible. I proceeded to pull with all my strength and flying away, hair in tow.

He screeched in fury, "Arghh! What the hell?! Get off me!"

For once, I listened to him. I stopped my assault in order to fly over to Chimchar but first grabbed a few Oran berry along the way. My friend took it gratefully with a weak smile and devoured the berries. The fruit started to do its magic (seriously, I think it's real magic. How else can you explain scratches healing in the span of seconds and the quick recovery of strength?) but I've learned from living in the wild that berries don't cure everything. Sometimes, my muscles still ache after a bad encounter with trainers and high-levelled Pokemon even after I've eaten a couple of them. While they are amazingly effective, they aren't miraculous.

"You okay there, Charry?" I asked cautiously, patting his head lightly with my wing, "Dumb trainer of ours pushed you too hard. He doesn't care about our lives or anything, just about getting stronger. Next time, I'll be sure to pull out all of that ugly hair of his,"

"It's fine," Charry let out, "I'm weak and Master's trying to train me; I'm lucky he even has the patience for a Pokemon useless as me,"

"That's not true!" I bristled as I shook my head, "You're fast, rare and strong! Paul just doesn't know a good Pokemon when he sees one,"

He gave me a small smile, "Thanks, Zuzu,"

We gave nicknames to each other soon after we met officially; while I liked to call him Charry, he decided that I needed one and thought Zuzu suited me. Honestly, I think I'll start using it from now on; my original name, Marella, sounded quite human but I know I'll always be known by that name in my mind.

"No problem," I flashed a grin in return before I felt someone looking at me. I don't even need my echolocation to tell me that its Paul, standing behind me with a nasty scowl on his face. I look behind though just to see the

Heh, serves him right!

"You..." The human growled at me, before death-glaring at the Pokemon beside me, "Chimchar. In your ball,"

Charry whimpers slightly, knowing he's in big trouble from that deep tone of our trainer's voice. I instinctively held out a wing in front of him protectively, baring my sharp canines but the fire monkey just shook his head. He tried to give me a reassuring smile but anyone could tell that it was forced.

"Hurry up!" Within moments, a red beam covered the Pokemon and vanished into the Pokeball.

He glared at me again before loudly 'hmpf'ing and walking away. I followed him, wondering just how long I had to keep this up for.

* * *

After a day and a half's worth of travel, we stopped by at a nature reserve. It's a small area with only a dozen or so buildings with names I've never heard off. I kind of figured that the game wouldn't include every building in the region—Sinnoh, one of the largest regions in the entire world couldn't be that underpopulated.

"Paul, where are you going?" I groaned even though I knew that the boy wouldn't understand; after just settling down for only fifteen minutes at a cafe, we were once again moving to some location I do not know.

"Hey," One of the customers says in the background, catching my attention, "You know our region's Champion? Cynthia? Well, she's actually in this town, like, right now!"

"Really?!" Their companion asked, tone excited and high.

"Yep! Say, wanna go see her? Might even get her autograph..."

Wait. Cynthia? Hold on a minute... wasn't this in an anime? Where conveniently, Ash and the gang, Paul and Cynthia were in the same town. If I'm remembering this right, Paul challenged the Champion to 6 vs 6 battle and lost horribly.

No way... he wouldn't actually be stupid enough to do that, right? Even if that's how it was in the anime, this is now 'real life'. I'm sure he knows the strength of a trainer with two badges (not including the ones received in other regions) and a Champion by now since he has been a trainer for... I dunno, three years? Four years? Maybe two?

Actually, now on the topic of ages, I wonder if Ash actually grew up in this world. I mean, he was pretty infamous being not able to age...

Paul stopped. Just in front of us, a crowd of people surround a single person, Cynthia. She was the Sinnoh Champion, standing there in the flesh wearing casual clothes with a smile on her face and a luxurious ice cream in her hand.

I nearly fainted; not only was Cynthia known a survivor the most toughest Champion, but she was also one of the most badass females in the whole game series as well as being my favourite Champion out of all the ones spread across the regions.

"Huh? Isn't that Paul?" Turning around, I saw a familiar boy with a cap and a blue shirt alongside his two companions run up to my trainer. Oh wow, it was Ash, so-called 'chosen one'! While he did seem to be about Paul's age, he didn't have the exact features of anime-there were no 'lightning bolts' on his cheeks, Ash looked just like the guy from my childhood T.V. show.

"It really is him!" Exclaimed Dawn, holding a Piplup who was mimicking her. Her unique navy blue hair was left down with its usual yellow clips. Despite the heat, she wore a beanie and short black dress, with a pair of boots.

Brock was beside her with his rather squinted eyes and camping gear, carrying his large backpack, "What's he doing...?"

Following his gaze along the rest of the gang, I watched as Paul step forward. Numerous murmurs arose from the crowd as the purple haired boy starting speaking.

_Oh no. Was he really going to...!?_

Flapping my wings, I flew towards him as fast as I could.

"I challenge you to a six vs six Pokemon battle!"

With a bit of effort, I landed right on top of his head. Using my mouth, I gripped a bunch of hair and tugged harshly.

_You. Idiot. Of. A. Trainer! _

"Argh! What the hell, Zubat!"

"Right back at you!" I shouted, the pure stupidity of the situation getting to me. Seriously, Paul, I thought you were smarter than that!

Ugh... I felt like crying; if I had the ability to, there would be waterfalls streaming down my eyes. I hovered next to Paul, across the field where my idol, Cynthia, stood proudly as she held a Pokeball. They both released their first Pokemon, the large magnificent Garchomp towering over little Charry.

"I can't watch this...!" I muttered, covering my eyes with my wings as I settled onto Paul's head. I could just picture it, Charry being effortlessly knocked over without Garchomp having to lift a claw.

"What's Zubat doing?" Ash wondered aloud from where he was standing in the crowd. Pikachu copied his movements while resting on his trainer's shoulder, tilting his head sideways.

"I think it's trying to cover its eyes... which doesn't make sense, seeing it has no need for eyes anyway," Brock answered, "While Zubats do have eyes, those spend most of their life inside dark caves actually lost their sight eventually,"

"Really?!" Dawn cried out, "I didn't know that,"

"Don't worry, most people don't. It's just an odd fact I learnt while studying to become a Pokemon Breeder," Brock said, rubbing his hand lightly against Bonsly, "Though, I'm curious though. Why would Paul, a trainer who only cares about strength, capture a common Zubat?"

"Yeah, I wonder..." Ash trailed off, staring intensely at the battle.

Heh... not even I know the answer... I thought when overhearing their conversation. My big ears weren't only for show, being able to pick up the slightest of noise.

My prediction ended up being true, unsurprisingly. I mean, Garchomp was a ground and dragon type Pokemon while Charry is an unevolved fire type starter. Do the maths...

[Ground beats Fire = Really Basic Pokemon Knowledge]

What I want to know was what on Earth was that purple haired trainer even thinking?! Like, come on! Why would you put a young baby Pokemon against a high levelled one with a type disadvantage?!

Paul's Weavile put up a much better fight than the poor Chimchar, with quick movements and effective ice type moves. I don't know much about her (yes, Weavile is a girl) since I haven't talked to Weavile much but she's quiet, obedient to her trainer and also very bitter. Though she didn't deserve to get knocked out so ruthlessly though.

"Return," Paul's voice was monotone, showing little expression despite two of his Pokemon were knocked out in practically no time at all, "Murkrow! Stand by for battle,"

Murkrow was much faster than Weavile and his flying attribute made him immune to any ground moves. That didn't pose much of a problem to Cynthia's Garchomp, knocking him out with one shot although the attacks did miss the bird Pokemon a couple of times.

I slumped on my trainer's head that had surprisingly barely moved, with my wings dangling down lifelessly.

At this point, I gave up. Paul was just too prideful and stubborn to give up, couldn't he at least see that the power difference him, a trainer with some experience and a starter Pokemon, and Cynthia, the current Sinnoh Champion, was just too big?

Torterra stood his ground for the longest being Paul's oldest and best Pokemon. Solar Beam was also the only move that really affected the opponent but soon after, Torterra was knocked out with a Slash. I think in the anime, Paul gave up after his fourth Pokemon fainted. Which means this is over-

"Zubat," Paul spoke and I raised my head just slightly. Was he calling for me? "Get ready for battle,"

.

.

.

.

.

"What," I said. So did Ash and company, as we all stared at the trainer in shock. I could hear the crowd murmuring amongst themselves as well, bad mouthing the purple haired boy not so discreetly.

"S-seriously...?" I, for one, was completely caught off guard, "W-wait! No, no, nOOOooOoOOoo! GAH, I'm sorry for grabbing at your hair all the time! I won't do it again, promise! Just please, spare me the paaaainnnnn!"

I cried out as Paul pried me off his head before literally throwing me on to the field. As I stared at the giant Garchomp before me, I could only think...

_I officially hate my life._

* * *

**A/N: Here's another update for y'all! This one is a bit shorter than the usual, I promise that the next update will more than make up for it! Thank you for all these reviews and favourites and follows ~ It really brightens my day knowing that people are enjoying my works, so really, thanks!**

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**Thanks for Reviewing/Favouriting/Following:  
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Saucyboi, Veralix, lguo3487, Luffy327, davir213, Galaxydragon101, blackhole224, GrayZoldyck, Ryuu898, Arkinstone, Deka Deka, Gatekeeper TAR, 98, Wawv, Sheepinator, Caporan, Animadow, davir213, ultima-owner

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**Response to Reviews:  
Animadow - **Aww, thanks! I try my best to write some at least decent quality work :D

**ultima-owner** \- Mmhmm, Paul's an odd one... or just angry, haha!

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**Have a fantastic EEVEE-ing, everyone! **

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**(At least those in my timezone, ha.)**

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**(And no. The puns will not stop.)**


	4. My Match Made

Staring at the_ colossal ground and dragon type_ Pokemon which had a pair of _razor-sharp_ claws that glinted dangerously in the afternoon sun and who was at least _fifty times _my size, standing as proud as its trainer, the god damn Champion of the Sinnoh League (a.k.a. the most badass female in the continent and in my opinion, the world), all I could do was let out a nervous chuckle.

_I'm so dead._

I could already picture my pathetic defeat; it would be a one-hit K.O. like all the others behind me and my tiny body would be bruised for days.

At that moment, I could only think of haunting that_ damned stupid purple rose-bush_ of a trainer in my death. Who, by the way, was standing at the exact same spot with a passive deadpan of an expression that I just couldn't read. What on earth was he thinking_—_did he hate me enough to send me straight to my death?

Once again, I sighed. At least I was getting defeated by Cynthia, my all-time role model because as creepy as it sounded, it was honestly an honour that a weak, common Zubat like me was able to even face off against the champion.

Brock raised the flag then brought it down, signalling the beginning of the battle; "Start!"

_...Let's just hope this is a quick one._

Immediately after the whistle is blown, Paul was quick to give commands, "Zubat, confuse ray,"

This method again? I wouldn't be surprised if it failed miserably on Garchomp but might as well give it a go. I moved erratically in the air, making sure the opponent wouldn't be able to land an easy hit on me before creating a flash of light.

Of course, it flopped instantly; the larger, dinosaur-like Pokemon had brushed off the confuse ray effortlessly and was left unscathed. Then, Garchomp started charging up his energy and began glowing a whitish blue shade. It was preparing for a Dragon Rush! The attack only lasted for a few, seconds but the terrifying presence of sheer power was downright overwhelming. I just managed to avoid the assault by millimetres. I could feel that powerful wind created by the aftermath of the attack, making the hairs of my body to raise up in alarm.

_If that had even touched me, I would be a complete goner. _

"Use Confuse Ray again!" Paul repeated. Gasping for air, my eyes left Garchomp's form and I shot a glare at the trainer's face_—_to my utter frustration, he had that same vacant expression.

_...Are you freaking serious?!_

That obviously didn't work beforehand, what made him think it was gonna miraculously work this time?! My foe was a large, experienced Pokemon; the chances of Confuse Ray actually working were below zero.

If I valued my life even the tiniest bit, I definitely wasn't going to listen to those orders. What could I do though? I looked around the torn up earth and debris before laying eyes a large opening in the ground. Oh! That must have been made from that moment when Garchomp used Dig against Charry at the very start of the duel. Despite the chaos that happened from then until now, it remained relatively undamaged. _Hang on... I can use that!_

I made up my mind; instead of using Confuse Ray, I took advantage of the underground tunnel and ducked down into the darkness in amidst all the smoke. I used my echolocation to sense my way around the debris underneath the surface before picking up on the opponent's presence.

There was complete silence for a moment but I could just faintly hear the crumbling of dirt, deep breathing; one... two... three!

An odd sensation was apparent in my mouth as venom run drip down my canines as I pushed up with as much force as I could, flying up into the sky, flashing tough skin on the way. That should have done it! Seeing the Garchomp let out a small groan, I knew my Poison Fang had done its job. Unlike confusing ray, which had the other side had the chance of snapping out of confusion, once the toxins were in the creature's bloodstream, there was no recovering; you'd have to use an antidote or a berry to get rid of the status condition.

In a battle where my loss was presumingly guaranteed, the least I could do was drain the larger Pokemon of its energy slightly. But just as I got my hopes up, I heard another Cynthia send out a command, "Garchomp, use Giga Impact!"

_Looks like I was right; I'm so dead. _

* * *

Paul's expression was a hybrid of a scowl and smirk as he retrieved his fainted Zubat, who had been knocked out by a Giga Impact and tossed across the ground like a pathetic Poochyena. This was actually the first time where the Pokemon had been in it's Pokeball-of course, it didn't have much choice in the matter.

While the rebellious Zubat had failed to follow his commands (and for that, he was anything but happy), it managed pretty well against Garchomp, a Pokemon that had _years_ of experience in battle. He was still pissed at the fact his commands were ignored in battle though.

"Impressive." Cynthia praised yet Paul knew it was just polite flattery; he had a long way to go before getting to that level, the battle had at least made that much clear.

Technically, Paul had one more Pokemon left; Elekid. Making an electric-type fight against a Ground-type, the latter being immune to the former, was practically suicide. He wasn't like he was expecting to win though. "I forfeit,"

"That was a good battle," The Sinnoh Champion held out her hand for a shake, a sign of sportsmanship and respect.

Paul had enough decency to let out a mild 'thanks' as he shook her hand and bowed, "Next time, I won't lose,"

Already, the crowd that had formed around the temporary battle arena began talking to one another, hush whispers quickly overtaking the polite clapping. Most were shallow taunts and mocking phrases in an attempt to ridicule the purple-haired trainer: "did you actually think you could win?", "well, that was disappointing" and "how embarrassing".

But Paul was deaf to such contemptuous remarks, turning away and waking off with hands in pockets—at fifteen and going, he wasn't going to be put down by such childish insults. This battle was just a stepping stone, a checkpoint on his long road to victory. While he lost to Cynthia, the next time they battled would be at the Lily of the Valley Conference and Paul would_ win._

"Hold on!" An annoying voice called out, laced with pure naivety and ignorance. Ash Ketchum was just absolutely vexing, "You did great, Paul!"

_So freaking annoying..._

"Where are you going? That isn't where the Pokecentre is!"

"I know that," Paul drew out, rolling his eyes. He wasn't _dumb _unlike the icon of obliviousness himself.

Cynthia's stern voice cut, "A trainer's first responsibility is to make sure their Pokemon is in top health and shape. And that means regularly going to the Pokecentre, especially after a battle."

The purple haired trainer knew how to take care of his Pokemon. And Pokecentres were just a waste of time—a small battle like that was nothing a few berries wouldn't fix. Yet, this was the Sinnoh Champion he was talking to and he didn't want to rub her the wrong way.

"...Right," He said despite his internal thoughts, changing directions. To his utter dismay, Ash and his little friends begin to follow him.

* * *

"Great,"

Getting healed in a Pokecentre was one heck of an experience.

For one, I had been trapped inside that stupid red-and-white-capsule-that-was-spawned-from-the pits-of-hell yet again and that was _not_ fun. No joke, that_ thing _was created by the devil! It was just so boring, living in a Pokeball and since I always roamed freely even after Paul caught me (mostly because I was so damn annoying and he had given up by now), I forgot just how much despised the Pokeball.

_Pikachu, I understand your feelings..._

Though, as I assume the Pokeballs entered the machine, the artificial world began to glow. It pulsed with a warm odd fuzzy feeling as if I had been enveloped with some sort of energy and the muscles aches which plagued my body began to fade. I never felt so _lively_ and ready to kick ass!

As adrenaline pumped through my veins, wings flapping at the speed of light before-_smack!_ I crashed into the walls of my confinement.

_Freaking Arceus! _

Just another constant reminder as to why I despised Pokeballs.

After waiting approximately six hundred years or so (it had barely been five minutes), grumbling about the pain caused by flying straight into the wall, it became necessarily clear that I wasn't going to be let out anytime soon. I needed to plot my escape.

Wings on hips, I 'paced' around. My first and probably biggest problem: I have no idea how Pokeballs worked. How they managed to create a pocketed space inside the metallic ball, similar to the TARDIS, it really was one of the world's biggest mysteries. Even scientists on modern-day Earth during my time hasn't been able to create technology even close and as humans, we've made some pretty cool advances in science. Then again, this was Pokemon we're talking about; a completely fictional world from a cartoon made for kids.

But if I didn't how they worked, how was I gonna get out?

"Ugh!" In my frustration, I flapped my wings erratically. Before I even knew it, typhoons and tornados had been formed. Vigorous gales darted all over the place, rebounding off the walls. Chaos ensued as the world turned black and white and _shook. _

Then it all stopped.

I paused, hesitantly peering my eyes open. What just happened? To my sudden but immensely grateful shock, I saw a mop of dull purple hair. I could finally smell something substantial (as substantial as medicinal chemicals could smell), hear background noises of the world around me, fly around in a decent block of space without having to worry about crashing into an invisible wall. I could finally breathe.

"Ahh, FREEDOM at last!" I whooped, doing numerous extensive loops in the air.

"It broke out of it's Pokeball!" Dawn's familiar voice cried out, layered on top of Piplup, sounding completely astounded.

Brock murmured, hands posed under his chin in his signature look. "In all my years, I've never seen a Pokemon that's caught suddenly break out from their ball like that."

I took the chance to take in my surroundings after bursting out of my Pokeball; it looked like I was still in the Pokecentre, though in one of the secluded, more empty rooms. Decently sized, it was your typical nurses' office but catered towards treating Pokemon with different sized stretchers, stools and adjustable-tables; the large fridge-like area caught my attention with the colourful display of potions that were stocked, each labelled with familiar phrases. The only people that were there excluding the Sinnoh Trio and Paul was Cynthia_—it's really her!—_as well as the purple trainer's Pokemon, all lying down comfortably in thinly padded hospital beds with the exception of Torterra who had a large space on the tiled floor to himself.

"That's interesting," Cynthia_—oh my Mew, still can't believe it—_mused, "Does this normally happen?"

"...I wouldn't know. It never goes into its ball in the first place," Paul said shortly. If it were anyone else, he would have brushed it off but for the Sinnoh Champion, there was a decent amount of respect in his reply, "Zubat. Down,"

Huh, that's strange.

Did someone say something?

I didn't hear anything.

Oh well then, might as well continue my quad-triple loop as I floated around the Sinnoh Champion. Mew, I couldn't believe I had the chance to be close to my freaking celebrity! And when the woman held her arm out, I immediately settled down politely, ravishing in the feeling of being petted. Having a human mind, this should've been outright absurd but this was _Cynthia_. An exception could be made.

"Hahaha! Zubat is ignoring you, Paul!" Ash giggled, covering his mouth with a gloved hand as high-pitched crackles spilled out. Pikachu, his Pokemon twin, followed by rolling on the ground in a laughing fit. The purple hair trainer was obviously not impressed, left eye twitching almost dangerously.

_He should probably check that out at the doctors... surely, that isn't healthy... _Cynthia proceeded itch a sensitive spot under my neck. _Ahh, that feels good~!_

Suddenly, I could understand why most dogs loved being pet by humans. It was a revelation.

"All of your Pokemon are very well trained," Cynthia complimented after a pause, "And I'm especially impressed with your Torterra. He was an amazing opponent in battle,"

"He was my first Pokemon, ever since he was a Turtwig," Paul replied. There was the slightest hint of fondness in his tone, "I travelled through the Hoenn, Johto and Kanto league with him. Though, we didn't win any of them. I also caught Murkrow and Weavile during that time, before coming back to Sinnoh."

"What about Chimchar? And Zubat?" My ears perked up as I heard my 'name'-it was annoying, but I would get used to it. Though, my irritation was swiftly eased with another caress on my cheek. _Ah, I'm in heaven!_

"That was after I came back Sinnoh."

The champion turned to Paul, "You've done a lot with the two of them in such a short time."

"So what? Chimchar did poorly in that battle against Garchomp. And Zubat refuses to follow orders. It's clearly not good enough." He stated, blunt and harsh. Personally, I didn't mind much of his insult-I didn't listen to him because his choices _were stupid_ and only increased the chance of getting knocked out. I'm sure just about everyone could agree that didn't like unnecessary pain. But that first part regarding my favourite Charry?

_Oh, it's on!_

His words only caused frowns to arise from the trio, especially a certain trainer from Pallot Town, "Until you got hit with that Giga Impact, I don't think you cared about how many of your Pokemon were knocked out! Winning like that is only winning for you and not your Pokemon."

Paul was quick to retort, "Give me a break. A win is a win; that's all that matters."

"You're supposed to support them and help them become better!"

"How _moving,_"

"Why you...!"

"Say what you want, do what you want. But I'll do things my own way and I'll become stronger, more than you'll ever be."

"And that makes training and battling them until they are all battered and bruised okay? They need to be treated with love and respect! Or do you not care for your Pokemon at all?!" Ash was absolutely livid and I could definitely relate to his frustration and disbelief.

"Give them too much and they'll become_ spoilt_. And Chimchar is the perfect example of that. A spoilt Pokemon who does not try hard enough,"

_How dare he say that Chimchar didn't try hard enough? _From every single Pokemon I have ever met since I came to this world, heck, more-so than _humans _in my original world on Earth, Charry put in fifty times more effort than everybody else did. Even despite all the put-downs and all of the insults thrown at his face, the fire-monkey still_ tried_. And that was more I could say for a lot of people.

I was surprised that I actually held myself back for this long (maybe because I didn't want to look bad in front of Cynthia?) but no longer could I do so anymore; stretching my wing muscles, I jumped up and made a straight bee(drill)-line towards Paul. Almost going too far, I halted in the air above his head before landing ruthlessly on his Starly's nest of purple hair, grabbing a decent bunch of hair with my mouth and wrenching upwards with all my might. The effects were immediate.

"ARRGGHH! GET OFF ME YOU STUPID BAT!"

"YOU DESERVE IT, UNINTELLIGENT MOP HEAD!"

Paul swung his arm around in an attempt to grab me but unfortunately for him, flying and in particular dodging were one of my strongest suits. If I could make my way around a sea of frozen water icicles aimed my way at the speed of a bullet, there was no way I wouldn't be able to avoid Paul_—_a human_—'_s incoming hand.

"Nana~ You can't get me~" I taunted, sticking out a tongue.

"Come back here!" The trainer growled as he made yet another shot at capturing his cheeky Pokemon. Of course, that didn't work out so well as I ducked under the table from which Wealvile was resting.

"No way, man!"

It was almost entertaining, how out of breath he was trying to snatch me out of the air. And surely I wasn't the only one getting a kick out of messing around with Paul, seeing the amused faces made by the 'audience' as I danced around trainer with relative ease. He, on the hand, was NOT enjoying the little game of tag.

"Zubat?" Speak of the _absolute Goddess_, Cynthia's voice made that cursed name sound musically enchanting. At once, I ceased pestering the peasant and rushed to the woman's side. Ash instantly burst into a fit of laughter while Dawn and Brock seemed also memorised by the Champion, "See? All it takes a bit of patience and they'll listen to you."

_Nah. It's just you: _was the exact same thought that occurred to everyone in the room simultaneously.

"You wish to challenge the Lily of the Valley Conference, right?" Cynthia continued, "I have something to show you all. Follow me."

* * *

Northwards of Amity Square, through a short five-minute path through grasslands and flower fields, lied a ruin in the middle of the forest. Although worn down by exposure from the elements, stone pillars wrapped covered with overgrown flora arose from the hard dirt. They stood in the remains of a circle, surrounding a central stone tablet with distinct carves of two great creatures. Below, it scripted:

_When every life meets another life, something will be born..._

I remember this exact phrase from the anime. I can recall feeling absolutely memorised by Cynthia's voice in the anime as a naive, nine-year-old girl who played video games and watched youtube videos, staying at home all my life. It might have actually changed my life, encouraging a younger, shy me to go out more and make some friends.

"These scriptures changed my life. All I cared about was becoming stronger but after reading this, I began to realise that there was much more to life than just battling—"

Though, a small part of me couldn't help wonder, could those words actually mean something? I was much older than the first time I had heard the saying and with age, came new understanding. Especially since I was tossed into this world, filled with Pokemon and so very different from my own.

"—I didn't just want to become stronger anymore. I wanted to get know the personalities within each and every Pokemon—"

My gaze traced over the carvings of Palkia and Dialga; the Legendaries of Space and Time, respectfully. If anyone were to know about my odd phenomenon, it would probably be them. Or perhaps Arceus or Mew? Otherwise, I would be completely stumped.

"—between the two of you, Paul and Ash, I feel as if something has been born from your meeting—"

What chance would I have of meeting a legendary? The thought itself was impossible, completely ridiculous and almost funny. Legendaries were called 'legendaries' for a reason; they were freaking _legends._ And I was an everyday, mundane Zubat, the most common Pokemon in the entire world. I would have a higher chance of winning the lottery than actually encountering a legendary Pokemon. That's like one in a million.

"—you two will become stronger in your own ways."

However, I may actually have a decent chance of meeting at least Palkia and Dialga.

"Zubat,"

How? You guessed it... Ash Ketchum. The Chosen One. That one special kid who starred in the Pokemon anime. Due to plot and (possibly) bad writing, he encounters every single legendary Pokemon and saves the day practically every two weeks. That was in the movies though, possibly an entirely different universe.

"Zubat,"

Another problem was the fact that I was now a Pokemon who also coincidentally belonged to Paul Shinji. Rival to said character which DID NOT appear in the movies and lived a normal if not downright bland life filled with training. Not only was it astronomically boring but it could ruin all chances of meeting a legendary! Sigh...

_"Zu_—_"_

"Huh?" I snapped away from my internal existential crisis and into reality, jerking away and nearly losing my flight as I dropped a good length. I managed to catch myself due to pure reflex which developed back at the caves at Mt Coronet, every time I woke up at least one-hundred metres above ground in the mountain interior.

Speak of the devil, just as I was complaining about having gotten captured by a certain purple haired trainer, he appeared out of nowhere. Or maybe I wasn't paying attention, "Let's go."

Paul turned away, scowl present on his face but seemingly more solemn or less aggressive than usual. I thought he would be mad since I ignored him (though it wasn't even on purpose this time!) however, the teenager wasn't all that moody. Instead, he looked to be deep in thought; not the I-need-to-get-stronger-because-I'm-better-than-all-of-you type thought but the 'huh' thought, like he was seriously contemplating something.

Meanwhile, Paul was lost in his own world of sorts. Cynthia was a woman of high regard and someone to be respected—and to have her of all people personally come up to him and share her experience as a trainer? Priceless. But the fact that they clashed with his own views left him unsettled.

And what was that damned bat doing? Staring (or at least he thought so, couldn't exactly tell) at the stone tablet intensely, as if it _understood_. That was impossible though... right?

Before the trainer could get too far ahead, I flapped my wings and glided across the sky, doing a fancy twirl on the way. I was right above the group's head in no time at all, following along the path with ease.

"Hey, look!" Pikachu cried out, pointed a stubby arm in my direction. The distance made his voice softer, muffled by the winds but my superb ears picked up on the noise effortlessly, "That's Zubat!"

_Good job pointing out the obvious! Five stars to you. Gee, I wonder where you got it from?_

Like a trainer, like Pokemon indeed.

Swooping down, I was just about to go say 'hi' when I spotted an interesting scene. There was a blob of magenta hair and another of pale blue with a tongue of purple but unlike Paul's a good distance away, walking side by side, on a separate path which forked the road we were currently on... _is that a cat walking on two legs? _

Oh wow, Team Rocket! This was to be expected by being near Ash and his friends—the infamous Team Rocket with James, Jessie and Meowth. The ever so comedic trio, always blasting off into space. I never understood why they didn't just quit stealing Pokémon and open up a permanent business somewhere with the success they've gotten selling products. Though, with them, there was a familiar blob of orange that caught sight off.

_Chinchar_.

Now, this was a chance I couldn't pass up on. Swooping down, I approached the so-called villains of the Pokémon series, "Team Rocket!"

Coming closer, I saw their rocket uniforms and sheesh, did they look cringed. The bright "R" on their white jumpers looked as horrendous as they did in the anime. What type of name is 'Team Rocket' anyway?

"Huh? How did you know our name?" Meowth questioned and I marvelled at the fact that his voice sounded almost identical to how I remembered it to be in the series.

"What's that?" James questioned. He was loosely holding Charry with one arm wrapped around the Pokemon's small body, who was still in deep sleep, dozing off peacefully despite all of the commotion. Managing to sleep through being kidnapped was a talent within itself.

"Isn't that a Zubat?" Jessie replied, "Very common, not at all rare; completely useless to us."

I... was going to ignore that.

"You're very famous where I come from," I said, completely honest, "You three are very well known and I'm a personal fan of you guys, Team Rocket! Could I please have an autograph?"

"Well? What is it saying, Meowth?"The female member bit out impatiently.

The cat Pokémon grouched, "Hold on! She says... that's we're very famous from where she comes from... and that she wants an autograph!"

"Oh really?" James said, pleased, "I say give it one! Where's the marker? I need to sign my name!"

He pulled out a piece of paper from a booklet, shifted the Fire-type Pokémon in his arms to a different position.

"As the most important member and leader, I should sign my name first," Jessie argued, waving a black marker in her hand, "Pass me the paper."

"Hang on! That role belongs to me! Who's coming up with all of the clever ideas to steal Pikachu? Me!"

_None of which were actually successful... but sure, whatever you say..._

The plan was working like a charm though. As the Team Rocket trio bickered, James' attention was no longer focused on the Pokémon in his grasp. Which meant that I could...

Snatch Charry away before they could even blink!

Team Rocket cried out as I flew off with Charry held up by my hind limbs. Speaking of the Chimchar, he was beginning to awaken. I couldn't see from the position I was in, carrying him despite our very apparent difference in weight (honestly, I could feel myself slowly but surely sinking lower, like a deflating balloon), but I heard a silly yawn and felt a slight movement coming from the other Pokémon. It was about time; any longer and Team Rocket might have made their escape with the monkey in tow.

I deposited Chimchar in front of the group, softly landing him as so he wouldn't hurt himself on the drop. Annoyance written all over his face, Paul grabbed a capsule on his belt to return a groggy Chimchar back to it's Pokeball.

"Its Team Rocket!" Dawn exclaimed loudly, catching everyone's attention as she pointed to the humorous trio who had followed me down the path and closer to the heroes.

Ash was already on the case, "Stop right there!"

"Oh no. It's the twerps,"

"Abort mission, abort mission!" Meowth yelped, as the three of them changed directions, headed towards the closest patch of think forest trees and greenery. Then began a treacherous chasing session as the 'good guys' chased the 'bad guys'; Paul was unsurprisingly one of the fastest, being relatively fit for his age and I followed his stride nimbly without breaking a sweat.

Obviously, I could have gone faster but I was too busy watching everyone else (Team Rocket run for their lives was utterly_ hilarious_) and having the time of my life.

Maybe I should've picked up the pace, I sweat dropped as Team Rocket leapt into a large leafy bush, only to emerge with a freaking _hot air balloon_. Seriously, how on Earth did they manage to camouflage such a large mode of transportation?!

"Oh well, we might have not gotten Chimchar," Jessie said.

"But there's always next time!" James cheered, rather optimistic.

"We'll get both Pikachu and Chimchar, that's right!" Meowth ended as he danced on the edge of the basket.

Honestly, I pitied them; how did they manage to keep this up for over twenty years? I would never know, "Seriously, you should make your own business! I guarantee you will become successful!"

Anything would instantly become more successful than trying to capture Pokemon.

"HEY!"

Whoops. Must have said it out loud.

By the time they had reached a decent height in the air, I stopped my pursuit; was there any point of going after them any longer? It wasn't like they were actually stealing anything this time around since I already saved Chimchar.

"And we're actually getting away with stealing this neat Pokemon egg! I wonder what's inside it..." James muttered yet his words reached my sensitive bat ears.

What.

Meowth's voice practically dripped with excitement, I could just see his tail going up and down, "It must be super rare!"

Ash must had dealt with Team Rocket too many times to even bat an eyelash, "Go, Star—"

"Zubat!" Paul had just bet him to the punch though.

I was already bolting through the air before I even processed the command and for the first time in my life, I actually listened to the purple-haired trainer. I couldn't risk the safety of a Pokemon egg which could have actual _life _in it.

In a fluid movement, I had gone through the ropes that held the fabric and the basket together, plucking the spotted egg out of Meowth's claws while I was at. I was doing a lot of snatching today, wasn't I?

"Aircutter!"

There wasn't time to even think twice as I got myself into position and batted my wings intently for a good ten seconds, conjuring up invisible but deadly blades of wind. Within mere seconds, the fabric of the hot air balloon has been ripped to pieces and Team Rocket was left with nothing but the frame and a large basket. One final wing-attack did the job.

"Uh oh," They spoke with amazing synchronization, "Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!"

Damn. They went realllllly far. I actually feel kind of bad, they don't deserve to be 'blasted off' to space every single time. But at least I retrieved the egg?

Hovering down, I brought the package down and plopped it in Cynthia's arms.

"—can't believe you let yourself get kidnapped. That's pathetic," And just in time for Paul's lecture. He must of let out Chimchar in order to scold him and really, the small Pokemon seemed heart-breakingly depressed. Charry looked down at the ground in shame and misery; if Pokemon could cry, there would be tears streaming down his face.

_Come on! He was just kidnapped and you're gonna reprimand him?_

"Now, now. What matters the most is that Chimchar is unharmed and that the egg was brought back to safety," Cynthia gently broke up the one-sided conversation, before either Ash or I could say a word, "Paul, you strive to become stronger, correct? It would do you good to rest at the Pokecentre for the night."

"Hm." He grunted in agreement.

* * *

Paul remained silent throughout the entire trip back and retrieving all of his remaining Pokemon from the nursing room, booked a ticket at the front office. All he had to do was show identification by scanning his Poketch and pay a small fee of ₽200 then BAM! Nice cosy room for the night.

Without even saying goodbye to the others or Cynthia (actually, this seemed pretty normal for Paul), he wandered off on his own way through one of the large side corridors. I never knew how large these buildings could be but now that I started exploring them myself in person, they are quite huge and housed many individual rooms for trainers to stay the night. There were bright factory lights that were placed seemingly everywhere, it made my eyes squint at the brightness of it all. The dull bull vinyl floor was the kind found in hospitals and save for a couple of potted plants, there wasn't a splash of colour at all.

I decided I didn't like Pokecentres all that much.

Finally, we reached our destination at room seventy-three. Paul simply scanned his Poketch at the door handle before it automatically clicked opened and we entered.

"Oh~"

It was small but a decent size for a single person with a bed tucked into the corner, a basic desk and an empty wooden closet. There was also a door leading to a small bathroom. It had little decor other than the striped patterned wall-paper which was in grey and a lighter shade and a small vase, propping up a pair of fake roses. Overall, it was an adequate room.

There was just one tiny problem; where on Earth was I gonna sleep? The room was so plain, there was literally nothing to attach my body on to and the window perch was tiny, I'd probably drop to my death whilst sleeping. At least it had a decent view, of... a pitch black forest where I couldn't see anything but my own reflection thanks to the light in the room.

Damn it.

As I was sulking, I gazed around the blank room... only to see Paul start stripping.

Wait.

What.

Hold on a second—

_"Fuuuuuuuuuuuudge cake!" _I yelped, jumping on the spot. It must have looked weird to him as I forgot how to fly for a moment and instead, was having a mild panic attack in my coughing fit. _Sheesh, Paul, way to stop my young and fragile heart!_

"...What are you doing?" He seemed genuinely confused and even curious. I probably couldn't blame him; it must have looked weird to him, seeing as his Pokemon forget how to fly for a brief moment than spin around in circles like a psychopath.

"Nothing—" I turned to him, ready to pretend that nothing happened and if anything, that he was the insane one here but as I craned my neck—heat rose to my cheeks if that were even possible and I began to splutter even more, "G-god—damn it, you...! Blah!"

"Put a damn shirt on, Paul!"

* * *

It was the break of dawn; I, for one, was thoroughly exhausted—between the being awake during the day time instead of the night like most nocturnal animals should be and going around flying lengthy distances, all the work took a toll on my small marsupial body. It didn't help when that... incident occurred in the Pokecentre room and I completely flipped out, making a mess of the furnishings and scaring the wall. Needless, it shall-not-be-mentioned.

I promise I'm not that bad around guys! It's just... I was fourteen at the time, never really interacted with a guy except for that one boy in my Maths class and that was to borrow a pencil.

And it's only been a few days being Paul's Pokemon and... now I think about it, he doesn't really change his clothes. He slept with his jacket on and used his back-pack as a make-shift pillow, living a very simplistic life. He didn't even use a tent! I can't believe I was only realising all of this just then...

Again, I was ready to drop dead any moment now. How I survived these past few days was nothing short of a miracle. All this exposure to the sun was really helping my skin to adapt to the UV rays as well. While at first, I got painful sunburns that brutally stung, the sun was nothing but a mere itch on my wings now. I refused to go into my Pokeball being the stubborn person I was and so I just kind of adapted to it. That, unfortunately, didn't change the fact that I was all worn out.

_I'm not a plant! I don't photosynthesise!_

Yet, I was being forced awake at Dialga knows what time in the freaking morning when even the _sun_ was still sleeping. The sky was a dark navy blue yet hints of a vibrant orange were peaking in the East.

"Let's go, Zubat," Paul called out that horrible name, "We have wasted enough time as it is—there's still a long way ahead until our destination. It's clear that I've been slacking on training."

_Come on, slacking? More training? You've got to be kidding me!_

But, one thing stood out to me as he spoke, stalking off at an aggressive pace with that everyday scowl on his face and a certain glint in his eyes, a passion of battling that only grew stronger each time he got knocked down.

He said 'we'.

'Our destination'.

As if... we were together. That I was a part of his team and that this was our long treacherous journey to becoming Champion, the best of the best in the entire world.

It hadn't been long since I had become Paul's Pokemon. Heck, it has barely been a week. And don't get me wrong, Paul was the most selfish, stubborn purple prick I have ever met (actually, I didn't know any people with NATURAL purple hair) but as I compared it to the life I had beforehand; the life I had before I decided to leave the nest...

...this wasn't so bad.

* * *

**A/N: ****Officially the longest chapter yet, hehe. We've nearly caught up to the original so updates will probably start slowing down; if two weeks is a long time, it might be even longer. I hope you guys do join me for this _very_ _long_ ride though!**

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**Response to Reviews: **

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**I'll just RAICHU a small pun here. **


	5. Train Gone Astray

What did I say last time? Something along the lines of "this wouldn't be so bad"? Yeah, well, scrap that. This was unconditionally the _worst_.

We've been out in the middle of absolutely nowhere for the past seven days now, camping in the dark woods and completely isolated from society. Legit, I could not remember the last time I saw another trainer ever since we left Amity Square. Paul has decided it would be a good idea to _stray off the main routes_ and go into the unknown areas on Sinnoh's map for some _extra_ _experience _but what's the point of that when there are no trainers to battle? I have been circling a good one kilometre in diameter around our base camp at least a hundred meters above ground yet I still haven't caught sight of_ any _forms of civilisation what so ever!

"Dude, why…?" Once again, I cried out loud, dropping down to a space of open land, as some Starly were startled in the distance. It was barely four o'clock in the morning and the sky was still a Murkrow black, the cool night breeze brushing my short fur as I dipped into a twirl. My night vision was really handy during times like this, clearly outlining any obstacles I needed to pass as I spun closer to my desired location.

Nowadays, I was awake for about eighteen hours a day: all throughout the day and cutting into the night. An odd schedule for a nocturnal creature like me but it couldn't be helped. Paul slept at dusk and woke at dawn, leaving me no time to rest during the period I was supposed to be sleeping—the day time. I never slept in my Pokeball either. I despised those _things_ with a Chimchar-ing passion. They made up the very core of my nightmares.

_Ugh_, I'm already getting shivers just _thinking_ about it!

And while it definitely wasn't healthy, I did the same thing when I was a human. Old habits die hard, I suppose. Pun unintended. Heh. After I got over it, I found making death jokes to be quite entertaining. Now, I feel like a cartoon rip-off of Deadpool or something... A lot more kid-friendly though, that was for sure.

With the ground coming closer at every second, I began decelerating as I slowed down the beating of my wings and stretched them as far as I could. My progression slackened just enough to make a smooth landing on an outstretched tree branch, showing off a small loop just for kicks.

_I wonder if there's enough time to take a quick nap…_

The branch had the perfect view of the purple blob dozing away silently, laying directly on the hard ground. He used his backpack as a pillow and had his hands in his windbreaker pockets as if to shield them from the cold. Honestly, I was utterly astonished at the fact the scowl on his face had faded to a blank, neutral look whenever he slept. I was under the impression his facial expressions were set in a permanent grumpy face with how often his brows seemed to furrowed. It wouldn't matter how young he was, the boy would begin to develop wrinkles at this rate.

_Ugh, this is so boring!_

It was at times like this where I missed my electronics—especially my Nintendo 3DS—the most. I had countless games from Mario Kart to Ace Attorney on that console and took it everywhere. Unfortunately, that also reminded me of the time I had gotten caught with the 3DS at school. I wasn't even playing on it but some kid snitched on me when he saw it in my bag. My 3DS was confiscated for an entire week and boy, those seven days were the longest in my life.

But now, even if I had my precious baby, I wouldn't even be able to play on it!

Why you might ask? The answer was quite simple.

I. Didn't. Have. Thumbs.

Or even _fingers_, nor _hands_. Let alone any sort of limb that would be capable of using a digital device.

I didn't ponder much on it before as I was too busy trying to adapt to my new surrounds but now I have time to actually think about it long and hard, the thought quite blatantly occurred to me; _my life really sucks, doesn't it?_

With another heavy sigh, I went to gather some berries. That would bide my time long enough until my Paul woke up. Then, it would be another long and boring day training.

* * *

Berry scavenging was pretty fun. It was the first real 'skill' I learnt as a Zubat at the colony: identifying each type of trees, how to tell if the fruits were ripe or not and taking just enough as to not damage the tree where just some of the little things that were engraved into my mind.

The forest area around here was just packed with berries trees though most of them weren't in season quite yet. But, if you knew where to look, the little fruits were plentiful. After only a couple of rounds, I had accumulated a decent pile on Paul's stomach; there were Sitrus, Razz, Pecha, Cheri and Rawst berries, all their unique colours and shapes popping out in contrast to the trainer's dark clothing.

_Haha, I can't wait to see the look on his stupid face when he wakes up!_

Just as I returned from another round of scavenging, holding some plump Oran berries, I spotted an unfamiliar Pokemon figure scamper across the ground near the trainer. They were beginning to approach the purple hair teenager and before I could realise what they were doing, I saw them _snatching one of my berries_. Oh Arceus, that was completely unforgivable!

I picked up my pace and swooped down, ready to guard my food with my life, bearing my fangs against the stray creature who backed away once I got close. It was relatively small and pretty fast, becoming streaks of meshed pink blurs in my vision, "Hey! Stealing other Pokemon's food ain't nice!"

"Uh, I'm s-sorry! Please don't e-eat me!" The nervous high pitched voice whimpered, large yellow eyes enlarging and I viewed the harmless worm Pokemon. It was a Wurmple, presuming a female one, "I p-probably don't taste very nice. And I'll upset your stomach! So, please don't eat me!"

"Calm down, I won't eat you!" It wasn't just for the sake of calming down the Wurmple down. Ever since I had become a Pokemon, I had a full vegetarian life. I couldn't even bear the thought of eating one of these childhood creatures. In my opinion, they looked kinda cute but then again, who am I to talk? My scale of 'cute' was rather skewed.

"Really?"

"Yes," I casually gave away a couple of fruits to prove my point.

Cautiously, the Wurmple eyed the berry offered to her and took several small, weary movements before snatching the fruit, golfing it down like no tomorrow. She instantly moved onto the next one and the one after that, so forth; there was already a noticeable lack of berries in the load I had compiled.

"Whoa! Slow down. The food isn't going anywhere!"

The Wurmple jerked, shying away, "Eeek! Sorry!"

"It's _fine_," I had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time I heard an apology. To make up for the awkward silence, I initiated conversation, "So, what's your name? I'm, er, Zuzu."

"F-flitter! That's my name," Flitter introduced herself, "N-nice to meet you. And thanks a lot! Oh gosh, I should've thanked you earlier, I'm so s_––_"

"Stop," I cried, shoving a wing in her face as an imitation of a hand, "You have no reason to be sorry for. Just chill, 'kay?"

And really, it _was_ getting kinda repetitive. Probably didn't want to say that aloud though.

"Oh, geez, so_––_eek!"

Yeah, this would take a while. At least I have a conversation partner to pass the time whilst I wait for Paul though? I didn't think it'll be long until he woke up as he seemed to have a mental alarm o'clock or something, managing to awaken at six on the dot. Like, how was that even humanly possible?!

"So, Flitter," I said, trying to get the other Pokemon out of her fit of apologies, "What are you doing out at this time?"

"Most Wurples are nocturnal—to hide away from predators like Starly and such," Flitter explained, "Once we hatch out of our eggs, we become solitary Pokémon and have to survive on our own. That's why I'm out here alone."

"Oh."

That was… kinda sad actually. They weren't like Zubat who colonised in large masses as one huge family. Though, solidarity Pokémon must actually be quite common in this world. It was just simple biology for oviparous or egg-laying creatures.

"If you don't mind me asking… why are you here?" The Pokémon asked after a pause of silence before quickly backtracking, "Oh sorry, that was so inconsiderate of me! Just because I tell you about my whole life story, it doesn't mean you have to say anything in return. Ahhh, I'm such a dummy!"

"Whoa, Flitter, chill," I only got about half of what she said, "I don't mind at all."

"Really?"

If it stopped the excruciatingly pitiful crying? Then yes, really. Of course, I didn't say any of that aloud and instead replied with a cheery, "Mmhmm."

"I got caught by that dumb trainer over there," I briefly explained, gesturing to the purple Muk buried underneath the berries, "So, now I follow him around. He's such a grouch and not to mention, a complete douche bag to his Pokémon though."

"Oh." Flitter plainly said, "Why don't you run away then?"

"Eh?"

"I'm not too sure on how Pokèballs work b-but I think if you break them whilst being outside them, you'll be a free 'mon. At least, t-that's what they all say out here..."

"Really...? I could... I could be free again!" I exclaimed as my mouth broke out into what I knew was a wide grin. I couldn't help myself though, having learned I could regain my status as wild. But then another thought entered my mind, "Wait, what happens if a Pokémon is still inside their ball when it breaks?"

Flitter shrugged, almost uncaringly, "Who knows."

Before I could find something else to say––to lighten the atmosphere, to distract myself from the endless churning in my stomach––I noticed the slightest flicker of movement. Then, a single Oran berry rolled down from the pile I had composed and stopped as it reached Flitter. Paul was waking up.

"Oh, you should go now. I wouldn't want him to take out his grouchiness on you," I said, "I'll drop you off. Feel free to take that berry."

I picked up the Wurmple, slightly taken back the weight of should've been just a fat caterpillar. Still, I had no trouble moving around with the other Pokémon. She was much, much lighter than Charry who was nearly my weight.

Soaring quickly into the sky, I spotted the nearest decent tree with plenty of berries for my new friend and dove straight down. Flitter wriggled uncomfortably as I had to keep a strong grip on the worm Pokémon and she landed gratefully on to the branch, "It was nice meeting you."

Flitter looked rather confused at my words, before coming to a sudden realisation, "Oh yes, good knowing you."

_'Knowing you'…? It sounds like she expects I'll die soon or something!_

Giving a (slightly forced) laugh, I patted her head (body) with one of my wings before taking off back to base camp. The devilish trainer was awake, as expected.

I had begun mentally preparing himself for his onslaught of complaints. It wasn't the first time I had pulled off a stunt like this; on my second day being a captured Pokémon I had woke him up by splashing water on his face using a makeshift Water Gun of sorts as I didn't actually know the move so instead, I improvised, carrying pond water from my mouth. Needless to say, covered in dirty liquid and my salvia, he was not amused.

My second prank had to be one of my favourites; I swapped the positions of all the Pokèballs around on his belt. I figured out he had a specific location for them all when the genius plan had hit me and I didn't regret it one bit; when he tried to return me to my ball, he ended up summoning Torterra who had nearly caused an earthquake. Paul tried to bring out Weavile for training but instead, picked my empty Pokeball. He had also tried to call out Elekid but accidentally choose Chimchar which ruined his chances at getting a Staravia. His face every single of utter bewilderment and exasperation every single time he was caught off guard by his own Pokémon. Hah, served him right.

The third was nothing special and actually unintentional––but pretty damn hilarious. I managed to pull off the zip on his backpack and slept amidst the camping items. It was a rather tight squeeze with wings my size but I somehow found a position that wasn't too bad. When morning came... you could probably guess what happened afterwards. I sprung out and he cursed a stream of vulgar words loudly, eyes wide as he pulled out a Pokèball, ready for action. I burst into laughter on the spot.

There was obviously a fourth and a fifth, and then this is when I insert _et cetera _as I couldn't even count the amount of Misdreavus acts committed during the... what, two weeks since I had captured and enslaved as a Pokémon?

_Oh well... at least I'm getting some entertainment out of it...?_

Well, the point of these stories was to depict the emotions of the Pokemon Trainer Paul. Anger. Wrath. Anger. Frustration. Anger. You got the gist of it.

But when he looked at him as I returned from my expedition, Paul looked at me with a certain perplexity. Scepticism. And then he switched right back to his usual expression, pure annoyance.

_I wonder what was that all about..._

"Pesky bat," The teenager grumbled.

Oh, he did _not_ just––"Take that back, you nasty lame dongus!"

This was the start of my morning in terms of the new routine I had to get used to. Filled with bickering with a human who couldn't understand me, playing pranks and ultimately, being bored out of my mind.

* * *

Oh, wait.

I forgot the worst of them all.

_Training._

"Elekid, thundershock! Chimchar, dodge it and use fury swipes!" With a cocky smirk, the electric Pokémon began mustering his energy between the prong-like horns on his head. The accumulated lightning bolt zapped erratically across the mountainous terrain, scorching the grass as passed. Charry roughly dodged the incoming attack and readied his claws to strike back in retaliation. Though, not a single one of his attempts landed.

I watched the training session with weary eyes. Even though my posture was relaxed, dangling lifelessly from a tree branch (which stemmed from Torterra, there were no trees up in whatever summit we had stumbled to); my eyes were zeroed in on the battle. I was ready to interrupt and get my friend out of there the second that things turned sour.

"Don'tcha ever get bored?"

With nothing else to do, I questioned the Continent Pokémon. The large mystical beast was a wonder to see––when I played run-throughs of Pokémon Diamond, Turtwig was always my starter 'mon and seeing the final evolution of my all-time favourite was just _amazing_.

"Paul's always busy training the other Pokèmon but you've been here from the start." I clarified further when I received no reply, "Like... how is it, having known him since the start?"

"Hn."

That was it? Seriously? Man, and I thought that Sasuke was bad...

"...what is a Saa-suuu-gay?"

Pffftahahahaha. I couldn't stop the barking laughter from escaping my lips. Damn, though, did I say that out loud? I seem to be doing that really often, "Oh, nobody!"

And then there was silence. Yet again. Once again, I sighed; I need new friends. In a scenario where the only constant companions were the Pokèmon on Paul's (and I stress the word PAUL) team, that was rather tough.

I prided myself for being able to make friends rather fast as a human and even as a Pokèmon, with the other bat's in the colony and the stray 'mons along the journey––but with the anti-social grump's team? Oh hell nah!

Sure, Charry was adorable. But every time he was released from his Pokèball, it was always during training and then I would stress my heart out from worrying for the fire monkey's safety. He was more of a child that I had to take care of than a friend I could confide in. Meanwhile, Elekid was literally a kid. The most irritating, snobby, I'm-better-than-you kid. Cough, cough. Kinda like a certain purple-haired trainer. Cough, cough. (I should name him Paul Jr.) And basically all of the protags' rivals, honestly. Seeing the two of them battle was like watching a game of cat and mouse, except the mouse wasn't Jerry and instead was a helpless little Rattata.

Don't even get me started on Weavile, whose personality was as cold as her type; freaking icy cold. Murkrow was just weird (a story for another time) which left Torterra. I liked to call him Terra (creative, I know) which was short for Terracotta. Why? Blame my past self from literally a week ago––though, the named Pokemon in question didn't seem to mind. So, it kinda stuck.

"Paul has grown." A deep, grumbling voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Huh?"

It was Terracotta, "As a child, he was young and unknowing. He suffered defeat by the hands of stronger trainers, time and time again. He had to train harder than anyone to get where he is now." There was a pause, before; "I am proud to be his Pokèmon,"

His voice was stern and resolute. It held the Torterra's utter conviction like there was not even the slightest chance of his decision changing. Ever. It was simply a fact.

"Wow, that's... " I took a little while before I could find the words, "That's amazing. The bond you two have is beyond anything I have ever seen. Really, it's just amazing."

"Four years is a long time," Torterra tone was wistful as if recalling fond memories, "However, I feel that it is time for something new. Something irregular, that would change our trainer for the better. And I think...

"You are that something."

What.

"Don't know how you got to that conclusion. We bicker like Skitty and Growlithe, but whatever you say..." I muttered as I loosened my grip on him. I hovered around, before turning to him, "But still––what. T-terracotta, did you just s-smile?!"

"I did not."

"Hah! Did too!"

"I did _not._"

I exclaimed, "I saw it with my very own eyes!"

"You saw wrong, then." Terra objected, yet there was a twinkle of amusement in his small, sharp eyes.

"Tch. Fine then, you win this round," I bitterly grouched as my head drooped, "I swear, I'll get photographic evidence next time!"

The Torterra shrugged his broad shoulders, "As you seem to say often... 'whatever you say'..."

"Hey! Don't use my own words against me!" I whinged. Though, I did not receive a verbal reply. There was just a huff––one which I knew was akin to a chuckle if I translate Terra-talk into English.

_That was nice though. Talking with Terra like that, like we were friends. Maybe I could get along with other Pokemon in Paul's team? _

But then I thought about Elekid and his utterly immature and condescending attitude; Weavile and her glare, cold enough to freeze other 'mons on the spot; Murkrow and his... weirdness.

_Yep. I'd rather not._

"Chimchar! Roll on the ground and use Flame Thrower!"

Paul's abrupt orders brought my attention to the battlefield. Thirty minutes in and they were still training. Through, it was clear that exhaustion had seeped into both Pokemon; panting, stumbling and taking just a little more time charging up for a move. It was especially predominantly in Charry, who was physically dragging his own body across the rocky surface. They were nearing their limit.

And that meant it was soon my time to come in. If anything, my pestering would allow them a well-needed break. The best-case scenario would have Paul setting up for camp. The sun had started to sag into the sky, making it approximately two or three in the afternoon.

Then, still disorientated from somersaulting, Charry coughed up a flame. It was no Flame Thrower but very close to one. But the monkey-like Pokemon was so dizzy, his move was misplaced and landed nowhere near Elekid but... Paul.

"Sh*t!"

"PAUL!" Eyes growing wide, time seemed to freeze. All I could see was the trainer's face as it morphed to something akin to horror when his foot slipped and he fell down the cliffside, staring at me with equal shock.

And then he disappeared.

I scrambled into action, diving down in a panic and catching hold of his arm yet my small body wasn't able to support his weight. Just as quickly, I found myself being dragged along to certain death as gravity did its job. I needed to change tactics. Fast.

_Crap! This is bad, this is bad, this is really bad!_

There wasn't even time to _think_, I just acted upon whatever thought sprung into my mind. If I didn't do something, we were gonna _die_. Letting go of Paul, I delved deeper and began waving my wings in a frenzy, as fast as I could possibly retract the limbs in mere seconds. Soon enough, a whirlwind appeared and was becoming bigger and bigger with each movement of my wings. I could tell it was mildly slowing our descent but it wasn't enough.

_"Fu––"_

We first crashed into tree branches, through thick and thin offshoots, stray twigs making excruciating marks on my body then––THUD!

"Ouch!" I groaned as exhaustion and throbbing aches began to settle in every cell of my body, growing only more sore as I tried to move. Whelp, at least I'm alive! That's one thing I can be proud of, yay. Though, I literally cannot believe I survived that. Why didn't I just fly? That would have been so much easier than going through all of that. But if I did that… wait… Paul!

All pain utterly forgotten, I bolted up and frantically looked around_. Green, brown, green, even more green…! Ah, Purple!_ I had never been more relieved to see that ugly shade of purple in my entire life.

I rushed over to the trainer's side, wincing as I caught sight of his wounds. Saying the purple-haired trainer didn't look too good was putting it lightly; he looked absolutely awful. Paul was knocked out unconscious, clothes torn with cuts all over and there some blood, dripping down his forehead. But he was breathing however strangled it was. He was breathing.

"Oh, Arceus..." I gulped, blinking vividly and taking shaky breaths. I had never witnessed an accident before. And this, _this _looked really bad.

This didn't happen in the anime! How was I supposed to know––fudge, that's not important now. I needed to take him to a doctor. Falling from that height must have caused... no, he needed first aid immediately!

_DRSABC! That's right, I did this in class. I can do this. There's no danger so the next step would be... response._

"Hey, Paul? Can you hear me?" I already knew it would be no use. Even if he could hear me, it would only sound like animal-gibberish. Still, I said it anyway as reinsurance. Using my whole body, I leaned against his chest to pick-up his heartbeat with my mammalian ears; yep, all loud and clear.

_He should probably have something in his bag…_

Unfortunately, the bag was crushed under his body and I couldn't quite take it out. As a human being, he weighed more than ten times my own weight. Though, another idea sprung into mind as I eyed the Pokèballs on the trainer's belt.

I didn't know which ones were empty and which ones weren't so I ended up tapping all of them; that led to the release of Murkrow and Weavile.

The bird's uncaring attitude quickly warped into horror, "Oh my..."

"What happened." Weavile demanded, shoving her claws in my face.

"Long story short, Paul was training. One of the moves misfired and then, somehow landed near Paul. He tripped and fell. From up there," I pointed a wing from up above, "Elekid, Terra and Charry are still up there. Mukrow, can you bring their Pokèballs and take them here?"

"On it," Normally, the darkness Pokemon would cause a fit or say something terribly snarky. This was a serious situation though and he left without a fuss, carrying the red and white capsules in a segment of fabric that was torn off Paul's jacket.

As I watched Mukrow fly away, the gears in my head start turning. As the only other Pokemon on Paul's team capable of flying, it came down to me to get help._ But which direction would I go? We are in the middle literally nowhere. Where would the closest civilisation be?_

"What can I do?" The Weavile's grave and almost desperate tone shocked me out of thoughts, "What can I do to help?"

I eyed her face which was no longer held that emotionless if not, bitterexpression but instead showed genuine concern. It was the first time that she displayed other than complete distrust towards me; rather, it was the opposite in this case. Weavile was looking at me for advice, she was trusting me because she doesn't know what to do. And then it came to me.

_Of course. No matter how cold she makes herself appear… she would obviously be worried for her trainer. _

"Stay in this general area and make sure Paul's condition doesn't get worse. Actually, can you help me turn Paul on to his side right now?" That's right. I needed to put Paul into a proper resting position, "Just right about here. Gently, okay?"

Weavile placed her claw tenderly on Paul's side with the utmost care, alike to how one would use when holding an infant.

"On the count of three. Ready?" I asked and after a shred of hesitation, the ice-type Pokèmon nodded, "Three, two, one!"

There was a dull thud. We had successfully turned his body (uhh, that kinda sounded like Paul was dead) over. I shifted the arm that was closest to me in a right angle and let the other one rest on top of his cheek, successfully settling him in recovery position.

"Good." I said, "Okay, so when the rest of the team comes, get Terra to watch over him. The rest of them, including you, can go collect berries that might ease the pain. I'm going to get some help."

Easier said than done. I didn't have much choice in the matter though, "I'm heading out now."

"Zuzu," Weavile––no, Winter called out; I blinked at the sudden use of my nickname. It was the first time she had referred to me by that name, "Hurry."

"Of course."

And then I was off. Faster than I had ever been, I shot up into the sky. My eyes darted around the endless green and my ears twitched at the slightest sound.

_Wind. Trees. Water. _

Not what I need...

_Pokémon. Talking._

Come on, come on!

_Humans. Cars. Chatter._

Just a bit more...

_Trainers. Pokècentre. City. _

I knew where I had to go. Away from the direction of the morning sun, towards the west. That's where the closest civilisation was––where help was bound to be––and that's where I needed to go.

I just hoped I made it on time.

* * *

Eleanor Glee adjusted her nurse's uniform lightly behind the sleek modern, counter. She couldn't even take it lightly in the mornings, not in Hearthome, the fifth-largest city in the Pokèmon world.

That's why there were several nurses (they weren't all Joy's like everyone seemed to think, though they _were_ renowned for their nurses and doctors) who docked around the clock, twenty-four seven. It was a tedious job yet an absolutely necessary one.

"Is my Luxie ready for pick up?" An eager young lass––Eleanor couldn't quite remember her name with the endless stream of trainers that entered the Pokècentre––questioned.

The nurse presented her signature Sunny Day smile, leading the lass into the general Pokèmon resting area.

"Luxie! Come 'ere, girl!" She cheered and the Electric-type Pokémon was just as ecstatic to see his trainer, "Aww, sweetie, you missed me? I know I missed you,"

"Your Luxio has made a tremendous recovery over-night. However, make sure you take it easy and rest for a couple of days before battling." Eleanor informed, though, her tone was light. No doubt that this trainer would take care of her Pokèmon.

The lass said, "Thank you so much! And I sure will!"

With that, Eleanor's job was done. She headed back out to the main lobby. Her main tasks consisted of returning Pokèmon who had been left at the centre to their trainers and signing out those who had stayed overnight.

Though, her peaceful routine was cut short when one of the youngsters let out a high yelp as the doors automatically opened, letting in a––blur. It was moving too fast for the woman to identify what type of species it had been until it shot right through the room and to the other side, stopping just short of the counter.

"A... Zubat?" Well, that wasn't a sight you saw every day.

Eleanor spluttered, "Uhh. Are you perhaps lost?"

It shook its small head. The movement was awkward on the nocturnal creature, having to physically move its torso and wings. Yet, it was a clear gesture of negativity, _"No."_

Zubat opted to tug on her arm lightly. When the nurse tried to take her hand back, the small Pokémon used more force as it realised she didn't understand––not enough to hurt but enough to stumble a step in a certain direction; towards the _exit, _she realised, "You... want me to come with you?"

The Zubat confirmed her thoughts with a nod; it comprehended what she was saying in a way that was completely unnatural in Pokemon. Sure, there was a level of mutual awareness with a bonded trainer and Pokemon, but this? Not like this...

Arceus, this day was just getting weirder and weirder.

"Do you need help?" When receiving another sign, Eleanor's felt a sense of relief. Finally, she was getting somewhere! But it rapidly morphed into a serious one. This Pokemon was smart. It had come here to a Pokècentre of all places for a particular reason; most likely, their trainer was in trouble.

"Take me there."

* * *

And that's how we made it to Hearthome City.

Staring at the peaceful (as peaceful as a blank slate of a face could be), I released a loud and heavy sigh. The intense distress and unease caused by that stupid mop of purple hair _unknowingly_ was just insane. I think I aged another decade or so in the short span of two hours; not exactly something to be proud of.

Nurse Joy (or whatever name she had) was a total badass. She left the Pokècentre herself and travelled alongside me with a Staravia. I was impressed at her speed; she had kept up with my own even as I flew as fast as I could. And I was a pretty fast flier.

The other Pokèmon were brought into their respective capsules the minute help had arrived, all except for Murkrow and I. As we were the only 'mons on the team capable of flight, we carried Paul on a mobile stretcher to the Pokècentre. My fellow flying-type returned to his ball, yet I had stubbornly stayed out (much to the curiosity of Nurse Joy, who actually had those pink loopy twin tails) and watched him get patched up. It was a short and very anti-climatic period––Paul's injuries weren't as bad as they had appeared and were swiftly remedied with a single stitch and some bandages.

Which led us to the current scenario; Paul lying on a hospital bed, unconscious for the time being but guaranteed a swift recovery and me, with literally nothing to do, going out of my mind in this tiny little room.

If it wasn't clear enough, I _despised_ hospitals. And dull, cramped spaces. I didn't have claustrophobia b-but... they were just so boring! The white walls, and ceiling, and curtains made my eyes burn like I had been sprayed with Acid; the sameness of it all was boring and peeved me endlessly. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that they were freaking _boring_. Or did I say that already?

More importantly, I wanted to explore the city. Hearthome was _nothing _compared to Amity Square, being more larger, more populated, more everything! I was too worried about a certain grumpy-pants to appreciate the bustling streets and sunny skies.

Did it make me seem like a bad person for wanting to go out when Paul was bedridden? Probably.

But right now with all the stress my poor frail heart had gone through, I needed a break from worrying. Plus, the teenager was fine. This was Paul we're talking about; hard-headed, stubborn trainer who didn't know when to give training a break? Yeah, that one. Nurse Joy had even double-ly reassured me that he was going to be fine. Trust the professional's opinion, not mine.

In conclusion, I was getting out of here.

The sole window in the room was covered by one of those mesh net-like things that were used to keep out the flies. Thus, I was limited to the only exit; the door. Problem: the door weren't made for Pokèmon usage. That was remedied by my sheer skill and raw talent a.k.a. stubbornly pulling the handle using my head, wings and even my mouth (I got desperate). It took an overwhelming five minutes.

_AHHHHHHHHHH! SWEEEEEEET FREEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO––_**SPLAT!**

Then, I proceeded to fashionably crash into the wall. Ugghh... I think I lost some teeth there. And definitely some brain cells, yeah, definitely.

* * *

**A/N: Soooo, now we've caught up! Yayyy! I don't think people actually read the author's notes nowadays but I'ma just continue writing anyway! Let me know if you actually see this, 'kay?**

**Also, on Quotev, this fanfiction is close to reaching 300 hearts and I plan to write a special chapter to celebrate the occasion. If you have any suggestions on what I should write, feel free to comment them over there.**

**Thank you so much for all these reviews, favourites and follows! You guys are the best ~  
**

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**Thanks for Reviewing/Favouriting/Following: **

Jockadi, Episoph, Calvire, DG2, Gundam7, Maia the Writer, mexmangafan, pokemansuperallstar, tigerblood917, Caporan, AkumaESPer, DJWhaleTrain, Divine the Withered Soul FrostyGrl101, Niceguymad, Random Badass, imaginair, whitewolfaloneindark, ID30I, Nitroo, Blaze2121, ultima-owner, fafnir1404, TheHiddenLettuce, GlassedGamer, davir213, DG2, Yeahleash

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**Responses to Reviews:**

**Blaze2121 - **Our lil' Zubat is quite the amazing Pokemon after all! And evolution? I've got big plans for that but might have to wait a while... Hope you enjoyed this update!

**TheHiddenLettuce - **Oh Arecus! You're the first person to mention, well, anything about the Poke-puns! And my answer is definitely! You could say ABSOL-utely! I don't plan on stopping anytime soon, hehe! Though, I might actually run out of puns before the series is over...

**GlassedGamer - **Paul is my all-time favourite rival too; for such a grouchy person, he's just so lovable! The journey to a Crobat (that isn't spoilers, is it...) will be a long one, so I hope you'll stick around for the ride! Thanks for reading!

**Yeahleash - **Writer's block is always an author's greatest enemy but I have lots of inspiration for this fanfiction so hopefully, it won't come to that. And I've just got too much imagination, haha! Thanks for reading :D

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**Shoutout to TheHiddenLettuce;  
A poke-pun per chapter? I don't see WYNAUT!**


	6. The City of Love

Waking up to a throbbing headache and sore bruises all over was definitely _not _how Paul expected to wake up. Then again, some part of the trainer didn't even expect he would wake up ever again––since he was pushed from the cliffside, feeling the razor-sharp wind whip at his face, falling down at an impossibly rapid pace––he had been headed towards _certain death_.

_So, why am I here?_

The purple-haired teenager recognised the sea of white. The colourless ceiling and the dull blue curtains, the thin cotton blankets and the simplistic spot pattern sewn into the sheets. He was in the Pokécentre.

Paul certainly did not remember arriving, getting his injuries examined and being settled into a bed; it would have been impossible to travel to one from his location on his own, being unconscious in the middle of nowhere. Meaning that someone had miraculously come across his injured body and was decent enough to bring him to safety.

Damn.

That was a close call. He was lucky that some random stranger had stumbled upon him before it had been too... late. Paul hated to admit it but he owed that person his life. And he didn't like owing people. Not one bit.

More than anything though, the fifteen-year-old leaguer was more annoyed at the fact he had been in such a ridiculous situation in the first place. Why did he even fall off, it was so stupid—

And then––_Shit! My Pokémon––!_

He rushed to pull the blankets off and squirrelled his way out. His Pokémon! Fuck, fuck! How could have forgotten about them for a second! More than_ half of his team_ must've been left on the cliffside. If there were hunters, smugglers, Team Galactic––they would _kill_ to get the wood from Torterra's shell. Or use Elekid as a source of electricity. Or pelt Weavile's soft fur. Or...

Nah, there was nothing from Zubat anyone would want. They were common pests in caves, their numbers booming.

But the point still stood; they could be still there, by themselves, in the wilderness. He knew they could defend themselves against the native Pokemon in that area. But from nefarious humans who would stop at nothing to get what they want?

He had to get over there. Now. Who knows how long it had been since he had passed out, resting in bed was not an option. Paul moved despite his muscles groaning in protest, using his shaky arms to support himself on the wall.

"I'm coming in––_whoa!__"_ One of the Pokécentre nurses had walked in, clipboard in hand, most likely for a check-up. Of course, he didn't have time for that. "What in the world do you think you are you doing?! You just fell from a hundred-metre cliff! It's a miracle that you survived, let alone escaped with only some bruising!"

The trainer (a terrible one at this rate, who lost their Pokémon? Not even that idiotic dungus with the Pikachu could manage to do that) made no movement to suggest he had heard her. Instead, his thoughts were focused on _getting the hell out of there and finding his Pokémon. _

"I swear to Arceus, if you don't get back in the bed, I'll make you!"

"My," Paul rasped. By Dialga, his throat was parched, "My Pokémon."

"Your Pokemon?" She repeated, astounded, "Oh yes, your Pokemon! They're in great condition. They were quite worried about you, actually, and refused to leave you alone."

She paused before giving a small smile. "Worry about yourself before your Pokémon first, okay?"

_What._

"Especially that Zubat of yours. You're lucky to have such a smart and caring companion. It flew over fifteen kilometres to Hearthome, back to you and then here again in order to get you help. Goodness me, I have never seen such intelligent Pokèmon and I've been nursing for a decade," The woman continued, ushering the young man back to his bed, "Zubat's been battling trainers for money outside, the clever bat. There's a whole crowd right outside the Pokécentre just waiting to battle it."

Now _that _caused Paul to raise an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Anyway, I'll bring your Pokémon over now. They'll be glad to see you." The nurse said once she had seated the purple-haired teenager onto the bed, "Now don't move. And I mean it!"

She glared that _I-will-seriously-kick-your-ass-if-you-don't-listen-to-what-I-said _look, one that even made the stubborn boy give a second thought, before leaving the room. Her quick, steady steps resounded with great clarity as she left and once again, Paul was alone in his temporary room. Well, at least his Pokémon were fine?

He was left with just about a million more questions though.

_T__hat pesky little Zubat... saved me?_

* * *

"Luxio, Thunder Fang!" The Spark (I know, super creative name, come on Nintendo!) Pokémon bared its keen teeth, the electric pulse flowing through its veins and into the mouth for a powerful bite. My opponent pounced into the air, completely focused on ripping out one of my wings from my body.

_But not if I have something to say about it!_

I tilted at a 45º degree angle with only a few centres to spare me from an excruciating wound. An uproar spread throughout the crowd; there were some that groaned in exasperation with inexperienced trainers wondering how an electric Pokemon was losing to a weak Zubat with a major type disadvantage. Most of the group burst into applause though. They were ecstatic, to say the least, if the ever-growing betting pool signified anything.

Yeah, it's a long story. I really don't know how it got to this-a massive crowd of _at least _fifty people, all surrounding a very limited space in a large circle like some street dance routine was taking place-but it was happening.

And I just so happened to be the main attraction. After all, it wasn't every day that a stray Zubat waltzed into a city, starts battling against trainers _and _wins.

I was actually getting something out of this though; a fair share of profit (people added ₽500 every attempt, depicted by the sign I had gotten the Nurse to write) and some valuable experience with fighting rare Pokèmon I wouldn't normally get the chance to in the wild. So, really, this was great.

"That all you got?" I taunted my opponent, performing my signature loopy loop in the air to further the psychological jibe. Evidently, it worked as the Luxio growled in visible aggravation and shifted his stance in preparation for another attack.

It was about time I got this wrapped up anyways. A simple Bite placed at the right spot would do the trick. The damage of all my previous attacks, combined with my favourite Confuse Ray, had accumulated over the duration of the match. Simply enough, Luxio didn't have much stamina left.

True to my logic, the Spark Pokèmon wavered. His trainer pleaded for him to get up but it was no use.

"Luxio is unable to battle!" The improvised referee-this middle-aged man who looked like he was having way too much fun doing this right now-called out, "The Zubat wins yet again!"

With that, the crowd _really _got riled up. Their loud cheering sent a buzz through my receptive ears; it was completely deafening yet somehow, got my blood pumping. It made my body shiver in anticipation. Battling, as I was quickly learning, was _fun._

_Wait, what?_

I-wow, that's some revelation. I hated violence in my previous life, in all its forms. Yet somehow, right now, as a Zubat...

"Now, any more volunteers? Any trainers who think they can beat this unbeatable Zubat?" The referee hollered which sparked murmured chatter amongst the horde of people. And then there was a raised hand, sporting a familiar-looking purple sleeve.

"This whole mock-battle thing is now over! You can all go back to your mundane lives. Shoo!"

_Uh oh. _

The mass of people parted for a mop of purple hair I'd recognise anywhere, however, this time basic bandaging wrapped around the head. It had only been a couple of hours after the accident had occurred and honestly, I had forgotten about Paul for a good moment there. But then it all came crashing back down; unfortunately, like any other Pokemon, I had a gained myself a trainer... and mine was that grumpy-pants over there who seriously needed to chill. Plus, I deserved some fun after he nearly gave me a heart attack!

"Aww man..."

"Boooooo!"

"What the hell, man?!"

"Party-pooper!"

One kid stepped up, pointing an accusing finger at the purple-haired teenager, "_Excuse me_, what right do you have-?!"

"**WELL**, perhaps the fact that it definitely isn't _your _Pokemon out there but rather one of _mine__, _battling without my consent. Go play kiddy trainer battles some other time." Paul snapped, "Come on, Zubat. We're _leaving_."

"Yes sir," I grumbled. It was probably just best to let him do what he wants. But there was just one little thing I had to do. "Um, Paul?"

"WHAT?!"

I directed my head at the... decent heap of cash piled on the floor. My battle winnings. And I wasn't just going to leave them there. Of course, as a Pokemon, I couldn't keep the money because I had nowhere to put it. Thus, it was only natural that the trainer who happened to capture me take my hard-earned cash. Such was the sad life of any Pokemon who belonged to a trainer.

Meanwhile, Paul was just about to lose it. He gaped, eyes flittering from his Zubat to the _literal stash of money_, before he simply face-palmed.

"How on Earth-nope, I'm not even going to bother."

* * *

Hearthome was also known as the City of Love. Because, well, _it's kinda said in the name_. But also, while not based on France back in my old world (that would be the entire region of Kalos), it _was_ considered the 'fashion capital' for good reason. You could just plop the Eiffel Tower smack bang in the middle of the city and it would practically be the Pokemon version of Paris.

However, most notably, Hearthome City had a _gym _which meant a _gym battle. _

And as a trainer attempting the Sinnoh league, it was only natural that Paul's first goal after retrieving all his Pokèmon the afternoon after getting injured would be to head straight to Hearthome Gym and challenge Fantina.

Because, you know. **_HE'S A FREAKING IDIOT!_**

I was ready to have a riot; dig my teeth straight into his collar and drag him to the Pokecentre myself. There was also that tiny part of me whose interest was perked... what were Gym battles like? It would be the first time I experienced one ever since I became a Zubat.

Challenging Fantina at this time would shift the course of the entire journey. As a Diamond fan, I didn't get to challenge this gym until later in the game. I don't think Ash did either in anime either. But Paul... he might actually be following the Platinum plotline. There was only one way to find out...

So, as you would've guessed... curiosity killed the Zubat.

The gym, as the games illustrated, was huge. It wasn't as plain though but rather the opposite, having European styled castle walls and that fancy black decorative fencing with all the swirls. There were large rectangular windows and old-fashion lanterns hung up every second window. A cobblestone path led up to large wooden doors, at least double Paul's height. Honestly, the perfect vibe for an elegant Ghost-type gym leader for Fantina.

Without any hesitation, Paul strutted through the entrance. He was immediately greeted by the receptionist that was seated right by the doorway, behind a sleek wooden desk.

"Greetings, challenger." The man said, "Do you have a booking?"

"One-thirty PM, Paul Valentino." Paul recited and held out his Pokedex-wait.

Paul _Valentino_?

**_Valentino?!_**

_That _was his last name?

_...Oh my freaking God. _

I can't believe it. I had always referred to him as Paul Shinji, combining his English and Japanese names together because everyone else seemed to do so. But now, learning that his last name was... _Valentino_.

"PFFTHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" My whole body shaking of laughter, "Oh Arceus, that is actually the most embarrassing last name I've heard in real life! I thought Steins was bad. Hahahahaha!"

"Is... your Pokemon okay?" The receptionist couldn't help but ask, seeing the Zubat being docile at one moment and then become batsh*t insane the next. It started flying circles and shouting loudly as if it was _laughing. _But Pokèmon don't laugh, which had made this all the more unsettling.

Paul's eye twitched-oh, why did he capture this nuisance again-and he let out a utterly defeated sigh, "This is. Normal. Behaviour."

Cue more laughter from everybody's favourite residential Zubat, trying to get over Paul freaking _Valentino's _last name. It sounded like it came straight out of _Pride and Prejudice! _Or even, _Twilight. _"HAHH... Oh, hah, that's hilarious! Hahahaha..."

"_Don't_ mind it."

The trainer didn't know if he was telling the receptionist or himself that.

"Uhh," It was clear that the receptionist was having a hard time keeping his eye off the _still-laughing _bat Pokemon but with a cough, the man continued where he left off, "When you enter the room, it'll be pitch black. You'll be given a flashlight though so no worries! That goes for the Gym trainers as well."

Paul nimbly caught the flimsy-looking torch that was thrown in his direction. It felt light in his hand, and when he tested it, the light was already waning.

"You'll need to find a blue tile in each room and memorise the mark on it. Then, head for the red door with the same mark. They'll be on the opposite wall to you from the entrance. It's easy to get lost but you'll be fine " The receptionist gave a reassuring thumbs-up, "Good luck, champ-to-be!"

* * *

"OOoooOOOoooOO" This place was a freaking haunted mansion! Realistic props and the eerie music played in the background which just added to the dark atmosphere. It was just as dark as expected with a maze of stone intimidating Duskull course, it was nothing for my brilliant twenty-twenty night vision.

Paul, the poor human, was grumbling while storming through the narrow pathways. His only light source was dying out, he had no idea where this stupid 'blue tile' was and he had already battled with the seventh trainer in a row.

Getting to the gym leader would be more a challenge then battling said gym leader apparently. I watched the trainer as he circled around the same roundabout yet again. Paul had refused my help when I tried to help him before so I left him to his own devices. And clearly, they weren't working out.

In the first trip, he had gone through the wrong door. Second trip, he did the exact same thing as the previous round. Third trip, I decided to help the clueless boy out. It was fun laughing at Paul's misery the first two times but it was getting old real quick. I pointed to the star door-having seen the blue tile near the door which we had entered from-but noooooo! Paul refused to listen to me. It honestly serves him right, having to go through the dark maze for the fourth time in a row!

This led us to the current events with Paul agitatedly pushing pass a poor trainer whom he had already beaten in his second round. The purple-haired dumbass turned another left into an empty fork in the road and just as he was debating on which path he should take...

...his torch died.

Pitch blackness fell upon us and for a moment, there was silence.

"Paul-"

"Don't." He muttered.

"-your luck is absolutely terrible, you know that?" I finished, trying not to giggle. Paul tried to elbow me yet missed by a mile and hit empty space instead. He was quite literally 'blind as a Zubat' (pun completely intended) and had to rely on his other sense to get by, mainly his hands to get a feel of the wall. Already, he heading towards a dead end.

It was such a sorry scene that out of the graciousness of my heart, I decided to take pity on him. I tugged on his arm on into the other direction. He followed my lead without complaint (suprisingly). I had to slow down when I realised I was going a bit to fast and the human stumbled on the concrete but we made it to the end with relative ease.

There were dim lanterns by the side of each door. Paul's vision should've come back to him and so my job was done. Except, he just kinda stood there on the spot giving me a side-eye. I got fed up rather quickly and pushed to the star door.

I murmured impatiently, "Well, go on! Open the door!"

Paul readied himself, checking his belt and supplies, before finally placing a hand on the handle and opened the door.

He made his way to a square outlined for challengers. The hall was much larger than I expected with walls stretching across and even upwards to a high-rise ceiling. The stone brick plated the floors as a rectangular box the size of a tennis court outlined the battling space.

Fantina stood with all her glory on the other side, arms on hips fashionably; her royal purple dress flowed gently to the ground and sparkled brilliantly despite the faint light. A yellow "X" was attached to the side of her waist and she wore white gloves that extended to her elbows. And in reality, her hair-do was just as amazingly over-the-top as I had remembered.

_AHHHHHHH, IT'S FANTINA! SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL AGSIUGSUDHK!_

"_Bonjour_, challenger! Je m'appelee is Fantina!" The Gym Leader greeted. Her thick French accent coated all of her words yet it was still as cool as I imagined, "And you are Paul Valentino, _non_? With two badges at that."

"Yes."

"In that case," She clicked her fingers dramatically and a podium rose from the ground beside her. There were three Pokeballs and each had their own slots, "These shall do. You wish for za battle, correct? And zhat I shall provide, three on three!"

A robotic voice sounded from the speakers above "Paul Valentino from Veilstone City VERSUS Fantina the Gym Leader. The match shall start in three... two... one!"

"Let'z a go, Haunter!" / "Mukrow, stand by for battle."

Both Pokemon appeared in blazing red light; Haunter, the first ghost-type Pokemon I had ever encountered, was almost see-through. Their body was tinted a purple colour and it possessed 'hands' which were separate from the main section.

Fantina yelled out her first command, "Haunter, Shadow Claw!"

"Dodge and use Pursuit!"

Haunter's misted hands began to take the shape of several pointed edges as it rushed over and took a swipe at Mukrow. The bird moved out of attack range before chasing his opponent in a shadowy blur.

"Nuh-uh! Haunter use Confuse Ray!" The colourful orbs that danced around. Confuse Ray was a move I was familiar with and love to use. In this case though, it was more of a negative thing though, taking a toll on my teammate. "Then, Sucker Punch!"

In a dizzy-spell, Mukrow flew unevenly midair when Haunter barged in and punched him straight on the beak. The feathered Pokemon let a groan from the hard blow and I couldn't help but wince at the sound. For a Ghost, Haunter packed a hard punch!

"Shake it off and use Assurance!" Paul countered.

Ohhh, that was a good move. Assurance dealt double the damage if the user experienced some damage beforehand. And that was enough to turn the tide as magical hands appeared and began hitting around Haunter.

Fantina's Pokèmon strained to get back in the air...

But ultimately fell down into a heap onto the ground. There was a distinct pause and a silent count down before the speakers blurted, "Haunter is unable to continue the battle. The score is 2 to 3 with the challenger being in lead."

"You did well, my friend," The woman praised to the unconscious Ghost in a sincere, quiet tone. The Pokeball's red beam engulfed the Haunter as Fantina returning it to's capsule. "_Pas mal _Paul! Now how will you fare with moi Duskull?"

The next Pokemon appeared to be a lot more menacing than the playful Haunter. The dark grey creature had a bone mask for face, shaped like a skull as the species name suggested. He levitated off the ground, up and down.

"Oohohoho, Future Sight!" The gym leader ordered.

While Duskull was preparing his move, Paul took the chance to catch his opponent off guard; another Pursuit followed by a Wing Attack before Duskull managed to get back on track and went completely defensive.

Attack. Dodge. Attack again. Dodge again. It was like watching a dance, both trainers went back and forth without relenting.

It was then when Mukrow started heaving out of the blue as if the air had been knocked out of him. I had been watching intently at the exchange of blows and not one of them had landed on the other Pokemon... so how?

_Wait... that Future Sight from before!_

Mukrow had already been handicapped from the previous battle and was dizzy from a Confuse Ray. And that last move caused ample damage. I eyed his wavering form and gulped; as much as I hated to say it, I don't think he was going to last much longer.

Paul must have realised this as well and began to switch tactics, "Return!"

"Not so fast!" Fantina cried out, "Pursuit!"

The challenger clicked his tongue as he recalled his Pokemon, now fainted and unable to battle. The robotic referee called out a draw as Paul drew out his next ball-well, more like dragged the Pokemon out.

"Me?!" I cried out loud, "You want _me _to go into battle?!"

If I thought about logically, a Zubat was a decent choice. I was the only Pokemon that could pull off a dark move in the party now that Mukrow was unable to battle. The move Bite would be super affected against Ghost-types. My species ability Inner Focus also meant I wouldn't flinch against any Ghost moves either.

HOWEVER.

And there was a _huge _HOWEVER to this situation; Paul and I did not get along with each other. And that was a complete understatement. I never listened to any of his orders and he was a terrible trainer. Not to mention the only actual battle I had been in was the one with Cynthia, the freaking Champion and she _wiped the floor with me. _

"Seriously?! Have you gone insane? I think you have gone insane. Why would you ever even consider sending me off into battle?" I whined indignantly but it was no use. The trainer's mind was set.

Paul rolled his eyes and quite literally yanked me by wing into the middle of the field. Which was why I found myself staring into the deep, endless pits that were Duskull's eyes. They were completely black and hollow with the exception of a single red sphere that glowed ominously.

"Uhh... hi there? Please don't kill me." I squeaked.

Duskull didn't say anything. It stood silently and drilled into my skull with that one eye.

_This is so unsettling..._

All of a sudden, the other Pokemon sunk into the ground and just disappeared. Mouth agape, I had been watching the entire time. I spun around frantically but it was nowhere to be seen.

_What the hell?! Where did it go?!_

I attempted to calm my nerves and get my brain thinking. Of course, "Concentrate!" would be the thing Paul says right after I began taking deep breaths. Instead at snapping at the purple hair blob, I shut my eyes closed and start to listen.

It was rather quiet. Nothing but breathing, flickering candles and the sound of my own wing beats. I strained my ears harder and let my instincts take over.

Just as Duskull phases out of the floor and ambushes me from behind, I spin around and spam Air Cutter in that direction. _Gotcha! _Some splices of air must have hit as I hear an echoed grumbling from my enemy. However, I needed something a bit more to finish Duskull off.

"Bite!" Paul orders and I roll my eyes; I had been thinking about that way before he had said it! My jaws slammed shut on... what was that? It's cold and light and _really really weird. _

Either way, it did the trick. I get a first-hand feel of the pulsing spasming until it abruptly dropped. I flew up higher to avoid getting in the way of the fall and stared at the result of my own actions. "Duskull is unable to continue battling. The score has become 1 to 2 with the challenger in the lead."

Hurting fellow Pokèmon felt off-putting, regardless if it were a friendly match or something more serious. I couldn't get rid of that bad taste in my mouth.

"_Tres bien_, Paul, _tres bien_!" Fantina said as she returned her fallen companion, "My last Pokemon already. Beware though, this iz moi trump card!"

Wow, already on the boss level.

Mismagius had the appearance of a medieval witch with a crooked cone-like hat on top of its face and a flowing veil for a body. She stared me down under the brim of her tuft with piercing yellow eyes and shivers ran down my spine. Yeah, I _really _don't like battling against Ghost-type Pokèmon.

"Confuse Ray!" Overhearing Fantina's orders, I was able to mentally prepare myself against the woozy feeling and get away with being just slightly disorientated. Though, there was no time for breaks as the gym leader instructed, "Magical Leaf."

A dozen or so standard leaves solidified in the air. They were sent flying at me in a barrage of arrow yet. As swift as they cut through the air, they were no match for _my_ speed.

I tilted my wide wings at an angle and the leaves whizzed passed me. I gave a little smirk at my fashionable little show and turned my attention to the 'magical' Pokèmon, eying for any weak spots. All thought proceeded to _crash _and _burn _as I felt a multitude of razors graze my skin.

_OUCH OW OW OW OW! GAH, that hurts!_

The leaves had made an impossible U-turn and came parading down. And caught off guard, they nicked me pretty good, even if grass-type moves were supposedly ineffective to a flying-type Pokemon like me.

I was about to wonder _how on earth did that__ Mismagius__ do that _when I came to a realisation. Ohhhhh. Magical Leaf. This special move ensured that the attack would never miss.

And that meant a whole lot more pain for lil' ol' me. Arceus, this was going to a bit more difficult than I thought.

"Shadow Ball! Fire in _repeter_!"

"Zubat, dodge it!"

_Like you need to tell me that! _

Spheres of pure dark energy were shot like soccer balls across a field and it was a challenge to avoid those attacks, especially with my cuts on my body being a lot more painful than I would've liked. Miraculously I didn't get hit by a single one Shadow Ball and I took the opportunity to land a hard bite.

From my position, clamping down on the main body of Mismagius, we shared a rare moment of eye contact. She did not look at all impressed and glared at me with a cool, reserved expression.

"Oh boy," I mouthed quietly to myself before I found myself flung to the other side of the court, tumbling on the cold concrete. I was completely outmatched in terms of strength; my puny body was just no capable of creating enough force to do any proper damage.

However, if this match ended up being a contest of stamina... I'll at least have a chance.

"Mismagius use Psychic!"

My opponent began to almost radiate a purple aura as she levitated higher and set her sights on her target. That being me. I felt myself lift off the ground despite the fact that I wasn't making any effort in moving my wings at all and it was then that I realised; _what the actual hell, Psychic Pokèmon are such actual cheats. How the hell am I supposed to get out of this one?! _

Repeatedly, I was forcibly moved into the air and slammed into the ground, the walls, the ceiling-you name it. I was surprised that I didn't have a concussion at this point but I was certain that my health was whittling away.

In a desperate attempt to escape this brutal onslaught, I began batting my wings with every ounce of effort I could muster. Which... might actually be working. I flicked one eye open to check on Mismagius and surely enough, the Pokèmon was struggling to control my body.

And to hell if I wasn't going to take advantage of that!

In one fluid movement, I pushed my whole weight to the left direction and began flapping those wings. Mismagius was unprepared for the sudden force but clung on to me with as equally intense force-which was exactly for what I was hoping for. I flew in circles, over and over again, dragging the Ghost-type along for the ride.

The result?

Mismagius, having gone through a maniacal tea-cup ride had officially been confused without a single 'move'. Poison Fang along with a flurry of Bites and the magical Pokemon was K.O. for good. There was no recovering from that in a long while.

Silence. Complete and utter disbelief wrung through the air, both trainer and gym leader looking stunned to the very core. I awkwardly floated about waiting until something would happen.

It wasn't until the AI referee broke the silence, having needed a moment to process the previous events, "Mismagius is unable to battle. The challenger, Paul Valentino, has defeated Fantina the Hearthome Gym Leader."

"_Magnifique_!" Fantina said once she had snapped out of her trance, "_Fantastique! _Truly exquisite! The way that you and your Zubat battled was _tres bon_! But to me it zeems that you are the one who'se trained and zee Zubat the trainer."

Paul visibly flinched hearing the last part of her statement. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. The trainer might've won but that didn't mean he had _earned _it. He had no control over Zubat and no control over the outcome. And that's what irritated him the most.

"I reward you with this Relic Badge! This is for your victory! And as a gift, take this technical machine. It is an expert guide on teaching Shadow Claw." Paul snatched the badge out of Fantina's hands and curled his hands into a first. The technical machine was treated with a bit more care but abruptly shoved into his back pocket.

Fantina continued to speak, "I'm sure you will achieve many great things in the future. Perhaps if you're interested, look at the contests? I judge often at the hall."

"No thanks."

"_Non_? Ahh, oh well. _Bonne chance _whatever you may do!"

* * *

I felt a little out of place as we exited the Gym. Paul was quiet, brooding on something I couldn't quite understand. We had won the battle and he had got the badge. Wasn't that all that Paul cared about? Winning?

Perhaps I didn't understand him as well as I thought I did.

With a heavy sigh, I placed myself on top Paul in a comfortable perching position, waiting to get the usual reaction of profanities and the wild swinging of arms. I got none of those which is surprising, I know.

Paul didn't bat an eyelash, as if he didn't even notice I was there. Except he definitely did. I could tell by the pause in his step which was only followed by a couple of quick paces. This new change of character was rather odd and I found myself pondering over it for a few minutes before dismissing the thought.

_Mr Valentino is odd by nature. Purple hair, bratty attitude. Nothing unusual there._

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_... Damn. Calling him that sounds so weird._

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**A/N: I'm like three weeks late but HAPPPY NEW YEARS everyone! I know this is late but I hope this update can count as an extremely belated gift for the new year! **

**Anyway, this story on Quotev has just hit 300 hearts! ****There's still time to vote on what the special will be! ****If you would like to read the special chapter, that'll be exclusively on Quotev so go ahead and check that out! There's still time to vote on what the special will be!**

**Also, you guys are just so wonderful! Looks like my audience has expanded nearly double last time I checked and for that, you have my eternal gratitude! Everyone's reviews are just so positive and yeah, it makes me have butterfrees in my stomach :D**

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**Thanks for Reviewing/Favouriting/Following:**

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**Response to Reviews:**

**Blaze2121 - **Paul catching a new Pokèmon does sound pretty cool, I'll have to think about it. Thanks for the review, Blaze!

**imaginair - **I'm glad that you're enjoying this fanfic! Paul's bit of a prickly guy but even then, I think that everyone will get along one way or another. Thank you for reading!

**davir213 - **Mega Evolution? Count me in! And thanks for reading, davir!

**DuskenWillow - **Aww... you make me blush! I'm thrilled that you find this fanfiction interesting! I know it's been a while since you wrote your review, but I hope YOU have a wonderful day!

**Animadow - **I try my best to make One in a Million a comedic read so I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thanks, Animadow!

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**This update would've been ONYX-pected, huh? **


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